"Nova" in Spanish means "star" ... and is pronounced completely differently than "No va".
If you read the link I posted, the myth is so prevalent that it has made it into marketing textbooks ... even though it is completely untrue. That's part of the myth that was debunked.
And the Caribe (the model name most often cited as the "new" name for the Nova) was made by Volkswagen, not Chevrolet.
See http://www.snopes.com/
If that's not enough, then:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/
on 01/04/2003 04:19 PM, Steve Neago at questor@cinci.rr.com wrote:
> Hi Steven,
>
> Your claim of a "urban myth" was covered at length in one of my college
> marketing class case studies in the early 1980s...
>
> The "No Va" (Nova) car brand name did negatively affect GM sales in Spanish
> speaking countries for that model and was verified by the Marketing
> Professor of my class at the time who did market research consulting for GM.
>
> He claimed GM Detroit use to have a "one size fits all" mentality that did
> not recognize the unique needs and preferences of people living in other
> countries. If I recall correctly, GM remnamed the "Nova" to disfferent name
> after several years of languishing sales.
>
> Steve Neago
> "Questioning Internet claims, not the facts in Cincinnati, Ohio"
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steven L. Sheffield" <stevens@veloworks.com>
> To: "Raoul Delmare" <R.Delmare@charter.net>; "Classic Rendezvous"
> <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>; "Mark Bulgier" <mark@bulgier.net>
> Sent: Saturday, January 04, 2003 12:23 PM
> Subject: OT: Chevy Nova (was Re: [CR]Bicycle brand nicknames)
>
>
>> on 01/04/2003 08:09 AM, Raoul Delmare at R.Delmare@Charter.net wrote:
>>
>>> Like when somebody at General Motors finally figured out why the
> Chevrolet
>>> Nova was not the best name for a car sent to Mexico . No Va = No Go .
>>> Wonderful name for a car , "Won't Go" !!
>>
>>
>> Urban myth.
>>
>> See http://www.snopes.com/
>>
>> --
>>
>> Steven L. Sheffield
>> stevens at veloworks dot com
>> veloworks at worldnet dot ay tea tee dot net
>> bellum pax est libertas servitus est nescio robur est
>> ess ay ell tea ell ay kay ee sea aye tee why you ti ay aitch
>> aitch tee tea pea colon [for word] slash [four ward] slash double-you
>> double-yew double-ewe dot veloworks dot com [four word] slash
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>
>
--
Steven L. Sheffield stevens at veloworks dot com veloworks at worldnet dot ay tea tee dot net bellum pax est libertas servitus est ignoratio vis est ess ay ell tea ell ay kay ee sea aye tee why you ti ay aitch aitch tee tea pea colon [for word] slash [four ward] slash double-you double-yew double-ewe dot veloworks dot com [four word] slash