Zirconium

Grand Theft Auto IV’s audio assets spell the marque “Zireonium,” rather than Zirconium, and the police scanner uses the same pronunciation. An unused Grand Theft Auto V sound clip retains the error. It seems to have been recorded before the pronunciation was corrected.

Zirconium has been interpreted as a nod to Diamond-Star Motors, the former American-Japanese joint venture of Chrysler Corporation and Mitsubishi Motors. This is a proposed reference, not a confirmed lineage. Another reading connects it loosely to the now-defunct Saturn Corporation. That comparison rests on the Stratum’s limited resemblance to the Saturn SW, while “Stratum” also evokes the Saturn name. Its Japanese-styled cues fit a suggested joke about the view of Saturn as a plain General Motors imitation of Japanese cars.

Eagle provides a further Chrysler-related comparison. This former Chrysler subsidiary was introduced largely to challenge Saturn, and it offered several station wagons that did not last long. The Stratum’s description on Southern San Andreas Super Autos in Grand Theft Auto Online may point to those Eagle wagons. Diamond-Star supplies the American-Japanese corporate parallel, while Saturn and Eagle supply the wagon and market-competition comparisons.