Tata changed the name of its new car because it sounded like the Zika Virus

Tata Motors has renamed its new Zica to Tiago. The hatchback’s initial name was a combination of ‘zippy’ and ‘car’.

The name ‘Tiago’ is a Portuguese boy’s name that was selected from over 37,000 entries the company received though it’s global SMS contest and social media requests over three days. It offered the car to the winner of the contest. The global auto maker will now register the car’s brand name and launch it in India by the end of March.

The question remains, why would anyone take that trouble?! Tata already showcased the car with the Zica brand name at the Auto Expo 2016 in New Delhi. The public didn’t have to vote for that one!

The launch of the Zica unfortunately coincided with an outbreak of a mosquito-borne virus with a similar sounding name: Zika. It has affected over 20 countries and has been linked to severe birth defects, including microcephaly that results in babies with abnormally small heads. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Zika outbreak to as a global health emergency. That spelled doom for Tata’s cute hatchback.

Days before the Auto Expo, the company announced it would drop the Zica name in solidarity with the people affected by the deadly virus, even though Jaguar had already been promoting the Zica for more than two months. That’s when they started inviting the public to propose names.

Tata Motors has its fingers crossed this car, the first of a new family of passenger vehicles, will plug its slipping passenger vehicle sales numbers in India. Maruti Suzuki continues to maintain its leadership in the domestic passenger vehicle market with six of its models featuring in the top 10 brands in January.

Upon launch the car will go up against the likes of Suzuki Celerio, Hyundai i20 Elite, and Next Gen Ford Figo.

Image credit: Indiatimes