# TrueCar new logo (2020)

> TrueCar launched a new logo on 30 Jan 2020, designed by Pentagram. New logo and identity.

## Key facts

- Brand: TrueCar
- Launched: 30 Jan 2020
- Studio: Pentagram
- What changed: New logo and identity.
- Why: TrueCar said the rebrand aimed to restore visual differentiation and attract more women and millennial buyers.
- Industry: Mobility
- Logos: https://rebrandlog.com/logos/truecar-2020/before.svg (before), https://rebrandlog.com/logos/truecar-2020/after.png (after)

## The rebrand, explained

TrueCar, the Santa Monica online car marketplace, launched a new consumer experience and its first visual identity update since its founding on 30 January 2020. The company's release said it was also the first major change in advertising direction in five years, and that the new brand aimed at a broader audience, particularly women and millennials. MediaPost, which put the founding in 2005, and Fast Company both reported that the identity, strategy and design direction came from Pentagram, with Fast Company crediting partner Michael Gericke and his team for the logo, site and app.

The target was stated plainly. Chief brand officer Lucas Donat told Fast Company that a main driver was to resonate with women, who make or influence 82 per cent of US vehicle purchases, and claimed research showing the new logo beat every other brand in the category on likability among women. In the release he called the result vibrant and joyous, and said the goal was a return to visual differentiation in the segment. Interim chief executive Mike Darrow said the changes would make TrueCar more appealing and relevant to new audiences.

Fast Company described the design moves: the slate blue logo was dropped, the letterforms softened and rounded, and colourful, dimensional gradients added to car to evoke the variety of choice on the site. The writer wondered whether the result was a sophisticated Comic Sans. Gericke told the magazine that almost everyone dreads buying a car, because prices and sellers are not fixed, so building confidence and trust is both hard and essential. The release added a new logo, colour palette and brand taxonomy, a matching rebrand of subsidiary ALG, and product changes such as letting shoppers choose how many certified dealers contact them.

Credit where due: naming the audience and designing for it is more honest than most rebrand rationales. Escaping the sea of blue in a category built on trust is a real differentiator. But the execution invites the Comic Sans joke for a reason. Gradients and soft curves read as friendly today and dated tomorrow, and likability in a survey is not the same as trust at the moment of a five figure purchase. The identity works hardest where TrueCar needs it least, in advertising, and least where the company is judged, on price transparency.

In short: Out of the blue, into the gradient.

## Sources

- https://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/new_logo_and_identity_for_truecar_by_pentagram.php
- https://www.pentagram.com/work/truecar
- https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/01/30/1977577/30926/en/TrueCar-Launches-New-Product-and-Brand.html

## Cite this

Rebrand Log, "TrueCar new logo (2020)", https://rebrandlog.com/rebrand/truecar-2020/, last updated 2026-10-21.