Name change of Tata’s heavily promoted ‘zippy car’ – Zica – comes too late for Auto Expo in New Delhi

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The Indian carmaker Tata Motors has decided to change the name of its heavily promoted new car, the Zica, to avoid association with alarm about the spread of the Zika virus.

Tata announced it would choose a new name for the car a day after the World Health Organisation declared Zika a global emergency. Tata has not yet revealed what the name will be.

The change comes too late for the launch of the car at the Auto Expo in New Delhi on Wednesday, where it will still carry the Zica label. Tata had chosen the name as an abbreviation of “zippy car”.

But the explosive spread of the Zika virus, which has been linked to the birth defect microcephaly, posed an awkward homophone problem for Tata’s marketing team. The scale of the spread of the Zika virus only became apparent after Tata launched a big marketing campaign for the Zica, including adverts featuring footage of footballer Lionel Messi.

In a statement announcing the rebranding, Tata said: “Empathising with the hardships being caused by the recent Zika virus outbreak across many countries, Tata Motors, as a socially responsible company, has decided to rebrand the car.”

It added: “The company is determined to place it in the market addressing all relevant needs of the target audience.”

The new name for the Zica will be announced within a few weeks, it said.

Last week, WHO said the Zika virus was spreading at an explosive rate and was present in more than 20 countries. It estimated that up to 4 million people across the Americas would be infected with the virus in the next year.

WHO is concerned the virus will spread beyond the Americas. India, where the closely related dengue fever is a common problem, is particularly susceptible to mosquito-borne viruses.