Little things: Car names

Australia has almost all the same car brands as the US, with the notable exception that GM cars are referred to as Holdens. That's because Holden was the first and only Australian car manufacturer and was later purchased by GM. So the name was retained, and Holdens are still manufactured and built in Australia. Holden uses a lot of the same model names as GM. For example, here the compact truck Chevy Colorado is the Holden Colorado. 

Other manufacturers also use many of the same model names. For example, the Ford Ranger is the same, as is the Toyota Celica.

But some are different. My rig, the Toyota Tacoma, is known here as the Toyota Hillux (pronounced hi-lux). 

The rental car we have been driving since our arrival is a compact Nissan model known as the Tiida. I'm not sure how you say it, but it really does have a double i. So, "tee-da," I guess. I know this model is not sold in the US under that name.

My personal favorite has to be the Diahatsu Applause.

Somehow, I doubt that car could do anything that would make me want to applaud. I don't even remember any US Diahatsu model names, so I'm not sure if these were ever in the US.

Why do they do this? This is one of those head-scratchers.