Very uncomfortable brands: what are the unusual reasons that forced some car models to change their names

Less than a week after it was presented to the community, Alfa Romeo It was forced to change the name of its new model, which was called SUV-B “Milan” and is called “Junior”. The reason is that, by order of the Italian government, it is forbidden to use the name of its cities for products that are not of Italian origin, and this new Alfa Romeo model, despite being an Italian brand, is manufactured in a factory in Stellantis in Poland.

At first glance, it seems like an unprecedented piece of nonsense, but in fact This is not the first time What happens in the history of cars. The difference is that today, with amplification social networksWhat at another time might have been an uncomfortable curiosity for the brand, has become yet another one of the mistakes the brand seems to have made with it. This car, highly doubted For not preserving the historical design identity of the Italian manufacturer.

“A car called Milano cannot be produced in Poland. Adolfo Orso, the Italian Minister of Industry, said that this is prohibited under Italian law, referring to a law passed in 2003 that aims to prevent some products that appear to be Italian from not bearing this nationality. “This law stipulates that it is not permissible to give indications that deceive consumers. Therefore, a car called Milano must be produced in Italy. Otherwise, a misleading indication is given that is not permitted by Italian law.”

Perhaps the most distant precedent over time, and perhaps the most resonant given the size of the brand, is that of the iconic symbol Porsche 911Born in 1964, but presented in Paris Salon 1963 With another name. Originally, the car that replaced the prototype of Ferdinand PorscheThe 1948 Porsche 356 has been recalled Porsche 901It was thus exhibited at the French exhibition, but a few weeks later it received notice of order from Peugeotwhich recorded the use of a three-digit denomination with a zero in the middle digit since the 1920s.

Thus, in a quick maneuver that would allow the conflict to be resolved without significant costs, Porsche duplicated the No. 1 already designed and under construction with large quantities of parts, and duplicated it in the central number. However, as has now happened with the Alfa Romeo Milano, there were some models that were built with the original name, in the case of the Porsche it was 82 modelsbetween those that were on sale before the series and those that were already on sale after the official presentation.

In the 1980s, Mitsubishi It launched the successful SUV that would today be called the SUV, which achieved great success around the world, including victories in the famous Blitz Paris Dakar, but he had problems with his name. It was on the verge of Mitsubishi PajeroWhich kept its name in a large part of the markets, but was changed to Fisher man In Spanish-speaking countries. Originally, the name came from a species of cat that lives on our South American continent called Leopardus bagrus, also known as the bagonalis cat or the pampas cat.

Much more recently, in 2016, there was another case of a model having to change its name due to the connotations its meaning carried, although it was actually due to its phonetics. This was the case for the urban model launched by the Indian brand Tata Motorswhich he called for ZikaWhich was short for Zippy Car. However, at the same time A Dangerous virus Caused by a mosquito coming from Uganda, called ZikaWhich prompted the World Health Organization to declare a public health emergency worldwide.

Thus, the managers of the Indian company decided to change the name of the car, but they did not do so secretly, but quite the opposite, as they launched a public competition to find a new name, from which it emerged. Thiagowhere the model ended up being set.

Due to phonetic problems rather than meaning, there have been other cases that resulted in the name of other models being changed depending on the country or language. One of the most famous ones Chevrolet Nova Made in Argentina in the 1970s, and renamed Chevrolet Chevy Because his name suggests that “it is not going well”; he Volkswagen Jetta (sounded like yeta, bad luck) which changed to Bora or Vento In our markets, Nissan Moko Which he had to change his name to cube In Spanish-speaking countries, and Toyota MR2 It was only in France that he had to change his name to… Mr. “Only” because the phonetics of the letters MR and the number 2 left the model as a contemptible car in French.

There were other cars with complex names, but they were not universal and did not need to change their identity. And there were cases Lancia Marica, Mazda Laputa, Hyundai Scoop, Daewoo Quiro, Ford Koreda or Kia Borrego. But they were models that were not on the market for long and remained merely a source of laughter for occasional visitors from other latitudes.

But back to the case Alfa Romeo MilanoBeyond the controversy surrounding the Italian government's demand to change its name, there is a much deeper underlying situation, which has exacerbated the Italian-Italian relationship. Stellantis He's not having his best moments. Since the merger FCA (Fiat Chrysler) with PSA (Peugeot Citroen)The influence of the French part of the group generated several internal and external conflicts.

Internally, the design teams of Italian brands changed direction with new heads of regions from other brands and nationalities, which meant new styles or design concepts. Alejandro Mesonero Romanos He is the new head of design at Alfa Romeo, and aside from his Spanish nationality, his school was a school Seat and CupraThen it passed Renault to work on Daciaand in 2021 he joined what from that year began to be called Stellantis.

But the relationship with the Italian government is not good either because Stellantis has expressed its plans for this Reducing job opportunities in Italian factories Transferring the production of electric cars from one Italian brand to another Countries with lower costs For automobile production, as in Polandwhere is the Jeep Avenger and Fiat 600 Electricity in the Tishi factory. This sparked a strong debate with the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for several weeks, long before the Italian Minister of Industry demanded that the name of the new Alfa Romeo SUV be changed.

However, his Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato, was responsible for providing details of the situation, which seemed to better explain the cause of the dispute beyond the questionable car model. According to the brand's top executive born in Milan (Milan) in 1920, they announced 18 months ago that their next small car will be manufactured in Poland, which The name was announced on December 13 And there was no reaction from the government until the day after the official presentation of the car.

next to, not equal He said that Alfa Romeo decided to change the name despite its conviction to do so He could win the case if he brought him to justice. He noted that they are already working on reorienting their marketing and communication strategy around the name Junior, and even took some time to make a joke on their X channel (on Twitter), with a map of Milan and its surroundings, where the name is not that of the city, but Junior.