Tesla says it’s changing its name. The company announced that it will go from Tesla Motors to just Tesla.

When the company was founded back in 2003, the “motors” part of their name was seen as a necessity. It’s possible the company added this part to be seen as an alternative and competitive automaker. It wanted to been seen on the same level as larger companies like General Motors. Larger companies like GM helped define the auto industry. By adding Motors to its name, Tesla felt that it was sealing its place among the larger car industries.

Over thirteen years later Tesla, with many accomplishments attached to it, feels shackled to the “motors” part of its name. The company has since found markets like Solar City Corp which developed solar-powered roof tiles for homes. Tesla has also been working on improving the technology for the battery that is part of its electric car.

Tesla is more than just a car maker, as we know from its previous ventures in solar technology. Yet when the company is mentioned it’s only called by Tesla. The “motors” part of its name is rarely used in everyday conversation. However, when you’re a company like General Motors no one really refers to you as just General. It could be that when you’re a large company like GM and creating cars is your legacy “motors” is a must when it’s attached to the products you create.

Yet Tesla being an uncommon name has a hard time holding on to such a common attachment like “motors”.

Company name change isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though. And it isn’t like Tesla is the first to make such an announcement. For example, Apple used to be Apple Computer before it dropped the last part of its name. Once it got rid of the “computer” part in its name that aided the company in the development and sales of things like cell phones and music player. Starbucks, back in the day, used to be called Starbucks, Tea Coffee and Spice.

However, with every name change comes a risk. Dropping any part of your name, as a company, could lead to a few negative aspects if the company hasn’t created some kind of recognition for itself through media coverage and advertising. And the company would need quite a few billion or millions of these.

A company should establish a good reputation for itself for at least one product. If a company profits with one product before the name change then creates a new one, it’s hard to tell if consumers will know if the same company is responsible for the first product as well as the second. Yet for Tesla, these consequences most likely won’t be a concern.

However, there is a predicted risk along with dropping the last part of its name. All the of the federally trademarked regulations as well as any other government filings that Tesla has will have to be changed. This will not only take a lot of time but money as well.

When it comes to changing the name of a company, it’s not always a bad move even though there are risks involved. Any name change for a company will open the door for competition to use later down the road. There are instances when changing the name of the company can mean better opportunities for product development and expansion of the different technology. When it comes to maintaining and cultivating trademark rights, things can get a bit costly since trademark rights are the most expensive asset. Yet time will only tell how this new change will benefit or hinder Tesla in the future.