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DUBLIN, Ireland - Earlier we reported on Kia's stunning Provo concept revealed at the 2013 Geneva International Motor Show.
The name Provo was designed to provoke comment - but not that sort: to many people across Ireland the name invokes an image of bombings and shootings in what in the two states that make up Ireland (Eire and Ulster) refer to as 'The Troubles' - too much like a celebration of terrorism.
Image gallery
Lawmakers from Northern Ireland (Ulster) have formally appealed for the South Korean automaker to change the name of its planned sports coupe because "Provo" is an abbreviation for the dominant branch of the outlawed Irish Republican Army, the Provisional IRA.
PROVOCATIVE NAME
Kia insists the name is supposed to suggest "provocative" and not IRA bombings and shootings. And anyway, the car prototype is years away from production.
Kia is hardly the first automaker to stumble when it comes to naming cars for global sale.
In Spanish, Chevrolet's Nova means "doesn't go", Mazda's LaPuta translates as "the whore" and the Nissan's Moco as "booger".
Read our list of worst names!
Check out the latest models in our Geneva show section.
The name Provo was designed to provoke comment - but not that sort: to many people across Ireland the name invokes an image of bombings and shootings in what in the two states that make up Ireland (Eire and Ulster) refer to as 'The Troubles' - too much like a celebration of terrorism.
Image gallery
Lawmakers from Northern Ireland (Ulster) have formally appealed for the South Korean automaker to change the name of its planned sports coupe because "Provo" is an abbreviation for the dominant branch of the outlawed Irish Republican Army, the Provisional IRA.
PROVOCATIVE NAME
Kia insists the name is supposed to suggest "provocative" and not IRA bombings and shootings. And anyway, the car prototype is years away from production.
Kia is hardly the first automaker to stumble when it comes to naming cars for global sale.
In Spanish, Chevrolet's Nova means "doesn't go", Mazda's LaPuta translates as "the whore" and the Nissan's Moco as "booger".
Read our list of worst names!
Check out the latest models in our Geneva show section.
