State-owned Chinese automaker GAC has spent the past few years preparing for the introduction of its Trumpchi brand to the United States.
But given the similarity between Trumpchi and the last name of the current President of the United States, GAC has told Reuters it’s considering using a new name for the brand.
GAC noticed that people were making fun of the name during the 2017 Detroit auto show where two production-bound Trumpchis plus a concept where shown for the first time anywhere in the world. One of the production-bound models was the GS7 SUV shown above.
GAC launched Trumpchi in 2010 as its new brand for passenger vehicles. The name is meant to sound like the Chinese name Chuanqi but also resonate with people outside of China. The “trump” portion was selected to signify the best or winning, while the “chi” portion is meant to signify the brand’s home of China.
GAC, China’s sixth biggest automaker by sales, has previously said it’s hopeful of starting sales in the United States in 2018, though the automaker still needs to obtain certification for its vehicles and establish a network of dealerships. GAC already operates in 14 countries and in 2016 registered sales of 370,000 vehicles.
