You know the saying, "what goes around, comes around". Well, now so does Chinese-Israeli startup Qoros, which last year, took Kia to German courts to ban the Korean company from using the "Quoros" moniker for its flagship rear-wheel drive saloon in Europe because it sounded too close to its own brand name.
For several months, Qoros was advertising its first ever production and concept models under the GQ3 nameplate, when all of a sudden last week, the automaker released photos of the cars named the "3".
At the time, there was no explanation, but on Tuesday, German news daily Die Welt came out with a report saying the reason for the name change has to do with a court order won by Audi in Hamburg, Germany, on January 14.
What happened is that Audi objected to the appearance of the letter "Q" in the "GQ3" name because it uses it along with a number for its SUVs and crossovers.
Qoros told Autonews Europe that Audi's complaint came as a surprise, since it had trademarked the "GQ3" name in Europe, and had notified Audi. A Qoros spokesman said that "GQ3 was a preliminary name for the sedan and not final", adding that the company will challenge the court's decision "to keep its options open."
Articles Source : Carscoop