No, the meme stood the test of time, or like the old Timex meme, It took a licking and keeps on ticking…
Even the “author” of the article discredits his own article when he admits that the Nova did not sell well and that the GM executives were baffled until someone finally pointed out to them that “nova” translates as “doesn’t go” in Spanish. The embarrassed automobile giant changed the model name to the Caribe, and sales of the car took off.
Let me repeat that, “the sales took off…”
I have no idea where the idea of “nova” means “doesn’t go” in Spanish, it does not… Perhaps some junior executive who took Spanish 101 in high school started this and perhaps that stuck…
In Spanish, “nova” means “nova” as in the astronomical event like when a star explodes…
However, when “nova” is spoken it is the same as when you say, “no va” and in Spanish that does mean “no go…”
I do not know why the sales were poor but perhaps it was the constant teasing the owners, or the comedians had a laugh over, perhaps it was just poor advertising on the part of GM… and by happen stance, the name change also included a much better ad campaign…
If you were going to buy a car and the name brought up thoughts of the power of an Exploding Star, or the vision of a car stuck on the side of the road; would you be inspired to buy a “no va?” Not I, or as they say in Spanish, “Yo no…”