Compare the Difference Between Similar Terms

Difference Between Make and Model

The key difference between make and model is that make refers to the manufacturer or company that produces the particular product whereas model refers to the specific name or number of that product.

Make and model are two terms that give specific information about a product. We mainly use these two terms to talk about cars. For example, the name Ford Mustang contains both the make and model; Ford is the make while Mustang is the model. Therefore, this article will mainly deal with the make and model of cars. However, you should also know that make and model can give details of various products such as phones.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Make
3. What is Model
4. Side by Side Comparison – Make vs Model in Tabular Form
5. Summary

What is the Make?

Generally, the noun ‘make’ refers to the manufacturer of a product. In other words, it refers to the company that produces the product. When we are talking about cars, make refers to the companies that produce them; namely, brands of cars. For example, brands like Ford, Nissan, Toyota, Peugeot, Volkswagen, Renault, Ferrari, Mazda, Honda, and, Audi refer to the make of cars.

Figure 01: BMW is the Make

We often associate car makes with big multinational companies. Also, we associate them with certain nationalities or countries. For instance, we associate Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche with Germany while brands like Honda and Toyota are Japanese makes.

What is the Model?

Model of a car refers to the name or number the manufacturers use to identify and market a range of similar cars. Car manufacturers have a lot of car models. Some famous models include Mustang, Fiesta, Beetle and Pontiac. For example, if we look at a Honda Civic, Honda is the make, Civic is the model.

Figure 02: Chevrolet models sold in 1928

However, cars of the same model may also have differences in body style and trim level. Therefore, knowing only the make and model of car is not sometimes enough to identify a car and know more details about it.  Many car models come in several body styles. For instance, BMW 3 Series (E36) has few body styles as sedan, wagon, coupe, hatchback and convertible.

Figure 03: Body Styles in Ford Focus Model: Sedan, Station Wagon and Hatchback

Trim level, which generally refers to the level of equipment or special features in a car, is another major difference in car levels. A car manufacturer may offer several trim-level options for a given model.  Standard, sports and luxury are three common trim levels.

What is the Difference Between Make and Model?

Here, we are taking the car as an example to explain the difference between make and model. Make refers to the manufacturer or company that produces the car whereas model refers to the specific name or number of a car. Therefore, this is the key difference between make and model. For example, Ford, Nissan, Toyota, Peugeot, Volkswagen, and, Renault are some car makes while Mustang, Fiesta, Beetle and Pontiac are car models. One car make may have various models; for example,  Honda Civic, Honda Pilot, Honda Accord, Honda Odyssey, etc. However, there may be different body styles and trim levels in the same model. For example, 2018 Honda Civic has three body styles as sedan, coupe or hatchback, and six trim levels as LX, EX, EX-T, EX-L, Si and Touring. Therefore, we can take this as another difference between make and model.

Summary – Make vs Model

Make and model are two terms that give specific information about a product. In brief, make refers to the manufacturer or company that produces the particular product whereas model refers to the specific name or number of that product. Thus, this is the key difference between make and model.

Reference:

1.“Car Model.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Oct. 2018. Available here  

Image Courtesy:

1.”996106″ by DariuszSankowski (CC0) via pixabay
2.”Chevrolet models 1928″By Chevrolet division of General Motors – Magazine advertisement, (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia  

3.”Three body styles with pillars and boxes”By 842U (talk) – Own work (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia