With only five weeks left before presenting its new city car, Fiat SpA is pondering a new name for the vehicle, a spokesman for the Italian automaker told Dow Jones on Sunday.
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Fiat had christened the new model, which debuts on September 1 in Lisbon, the Gingo, but rival car maker Renault has objected that the name sounds too much like its own 11-year-old subcompact, the Twingo, Dow Jones said.
Fiat will change the name rather than risk legal proceedings, the spokesman told the news agency, adding that the probable solution is to use Panda, a name that sold five million units over three decades.
Production of the Panda is being phased out, and Fiat is now selling them for as little as €5,500 at dealerships, Dow Jones said, noting that the Gingo replaces the Panda with all-new production and is not a remake as are the recently redesigned Lancia Y and Fiat Punto that the Italian company launched earlier this year.
The name Gingo was presented at the Geneva motor show in March, and appeared again at the Tour de France, which Fiat is helping sponsor, the news agency added.
Dow Jones said Fiat Auto, which has made money in only one year of the past eight, has been slashing jobs and ramping up the roll-out of new models in a bid to catch up with its peers and return to profitability with additional market share. Key new models include the former Gingo and the Idea, a mini-passenger van scheduled to debut in October, the report added.
The new models should help Fiat “turn the corner” in the fourth quarter, chief executive Giuseppe Morchio has said, according to the news agency.
