Proton Chancellor - 惨死了?

Ever since I saw the advertisements of Proton Chancellor in the newsprint, I've been wondering which group of consumers is Proton targeting. Businessmen who own SME perhaps?

Anyway, I chanced upon an entry in Brand New Malaysian and Screenshots respectively today. It was published in a Chinese daily that Chancellor could be translated into Chinese as something which resonates 惨死了- died tragically.

Just to share my own experience on car naming. I've been given some translation work in London to ensure the lists of names thought up by auto companies are suitable for the Malaysian market. Among the criteria I used was to make sure the names do not sound like something negative in either Malay of Chinese. I don't speak Tamil, so I wouldn't be able to provide my input there. I was paid GBP20 for screening through each list which comprised of roughly 50 names. A small price to pay to ensure car models sound right especially in the region it would be sold.

Wonder what went wrong in the process of naming Chancellor? Have they overlooked the fact that many ethnic Chinese in this country have likings and phobia over homonyms?

The Chancellor is not an interesting model anyway. It's just a stretched Waja at double the price tag. I doubt that Proton will be able to sell that many. Another flop on the way.