China-Based GAC Reconsidering Trumpchi Brand Name Ahead Of US Entry

Considering Ford’s luxury arm Lincoln shares its name with a former United States president, and it’s nearly 100 years old, you might assume being associated with the oval office is a positive for a company. Well, Chinese automaker GAC is learning that’s not entirely true.

GAC is rethinking the name of the brand with which it’s preparing to enter the U.S. market due to its similarity to President Donald Trump’s surname, Reuters reports.

China’s sixth-largest manufacturer, GAC plans to launch its Trumpchi brand in the U.S. by 2019, but recently found consumers respond unfavorably to the name.

“We saw people were laughing at this and took pictures looking only at this detail, and also put on Facebook or other websites,” GAC’s design director, Zhang Fan, told Reuters. “When we read all that feedback, we realized it might not be very positive promotion for the brand.”

Zhang was one of the people who initially thought consumers connecting Trumpchi with the Commander in Chief wouldn’t be harmful. However, he reportedly now realizes he forgot to account for the current unusual nature of the 2016 presidential election.

“At first I’d never thought of it, why change the name? It’s the president Americans selected,” Zhang said, “it’s similar to the president’s name, this has to be good right? But in the United States the level of opposition (to Trump) is high.”

GAC reportedly chose the name Trumpchi as it’s close to the pronunciation of the brand’s Chinese name.

Thumbnail photo via GAC