Tata Motors, the Indian carmaker, is being forced to reconsider the name of its latest small car. The Zica recently launched in India to much fanfare, but the spread of the Zika virus across the world is leading the company to re-evaluate the name of its car.
The Zika virus hit the headlines recently after causing severe birth defects in children whose mothers catch it while pregnant. While it’s not fatal, it leads to microcephaly – abnormally small heads with stunted brain development. The disease has recently been declared a world health emergency on the same scale as the Ebola virus.
Tata says the Zica name has no relation to the virus and is short for ‘zippy car’. Tata Motors Head of Communications Minari Shah told The Guardian: “The decision to name our car happened many months back when we could not have forseen any of the recent events. In view of the recent developments, we are now evaluating the situation. We do not currently have a timeframe about when we will announce the decision.”
The Zica is due to go on show at the Dehli Auto Expo on February 4, so we may see an announcement about an impending name change there. It’s not known what would happen to sales if the name was changed – but the Tata Zica has already received rave reviews from the Indian press, praising the car's styling, smart dash design and peppy 1.2-litre ‘Revotron’ engine. Tata Motors is a giant multinational corporation and owns Jaguar and Land Rover, amongst others.
Tata Motors isn’t alone in having an unfortunately named car, although it’s the first we’ve heard of that ties up with a global epidemic. Vauxhall's ‘Nova’ famously translated into Spanish as ‘doesn’t go’, for example.
Is the name of a car important to you when buying? Let us know in the comments below...