It's probably a nice name - unless your name is Zoe Renault.
It can be tough to be given the wrong name. But what’s the problem with being named Zoe? Nothing – at least not until a French automaker decided to use that name for one of its new models.
Now, Renault is facing a legal challenge filed on behalf of two young girls who just happened to be named Zoe Renault.
“First names are for humans,” attorney David Koubbi told the Associated Press, explaining why he has gone to court to block the automaker from launching its new electric car, the Renault Zoe.
(The fact that Koubbi’s own daughter is name Zoe convinced him to take the case on pro bono, the AP reports.)
While a French court this week rejected Koubbi’s claim, he plans to appeal.
“Can an industrialist swoop in steal our names so as to sell his products?” Koubbi added, explaining his case for the two girls, aged 2 and 8 – never mind the 35,000 other French women that bear that name.
While other common names, including the Renault Clio, have not kicked up a stir, the campaign to challenge the carmaker’s use of Zoe has already generated 6,000 signatures on Facebook.
And in an interview with Europe-1 radio, Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn hinted that the automaker might wave the white flag. “We don’t want our car to come on the market with a name that is a handicap,” he declared during an interview.
Picking a name for a new car has become an increasingly difficult challenge, especially in the age of globalization. A classic example is the old Chevrolet Nova which, in Spanish, translated loosely into “no go.” Volkswagen’s Sharan minivan took some teasing from the British, who use that name for a naughty sort of girl. And even the brand name Lexus created problems for Toyota, 20 years ago, when the owners of the Lexis/Nexis database server sued to block its use. Eventually, Toyota prevailed in a lawsuit.
But such incidents help explain why more and more makers have abandoned evocative names, like Fairlane, Bonneville or possibly Zoe, more and more migrating to less emotional but safer alphanumeric designations. Unless your new model is named THX1138 – the title of an early George Lucas film, your company is likely not going to offend anyone.