It's not unusual for an automaker to reserve a name it used in the past with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). We saw this recently with Ford, which secured the rights to the Thunderbird name, and Toyota when it moved to retain ownership of Celica.
This doesn't always mean we’ll see a model appear bearing the name – but sometimes it does.
Stellantis recently reserved the Cuda name, in the "concept" section for vehicles. Considering the brand's electric shift, and in particular the return of the Daytona name with the new Charger concept, it's not impossible we might see the Cuda name appearing soon on a new design study or prototype.
Chrysler first used it in 1970 to designate sportier versions of the Plymouth Barracuda, at a time when American manufacturers were waging war with each other with their muscle cars and pony cars.
The Plymouth Cuda was available with the 426-cubic-inch Hemi V8, as well as in a 440 version with the famous "6-pack", and in a racing-inspired AAR configuration. The variant quickly became legendary, and some rare examples are worth a small fortune today.
Now we’ll be watching to see if among the series of concepts to some from Stellantis, the firm shows it has genuine intentions behind reserving the Cuda name. If the manufacturer does plan to use it, that should become clear soon, because several new concepts and models are expected over the next few years.