Deadly Zika Virus Claims First Corporate Victim

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/sarithar.../#1a246e382213

Deadly Zika Virus Claims First Corporate Victim: Tata's Zica Car In India


Soccer star Lionel Messi endorses Tata Motors’ new hatchback (Image: Tata Motors)

The deadly Zika epidemic that surfaced in South America and is spreading at alarming speeds to the rest of the world, has claimed its first corporate casualty all the way in India. The victim is a new hatchback named Zica which was to be launched later this week by the country’s leading automobile maker, Tata Motors.

Tata, one of India’s largest conglomerates, is dumping the name even as the Zika virus is causing anxiety worldwide. The car, endorsed by soccer icon Lionel Messi and scheduled to be unveiled at the Auto Expo in New Delhi, is to be re-christened.

“Empathizing with the hardships being caused by the recent ‘Zika’ virus outbreak across many countries, Tata Motors, as a socially responsible company, has decided to re-brand the car,” the company said in a statement.

‘Zica’ was coined by Tata Motors by joining the first letters of the words “zippy” and “car”. The small car was being readied for display at dealerships around the country and for customer bookings. That process has been stalled and the car’s new name is not yet known.

Tata Motors is India’s largest automobile company, with revenues of $42.04 billion in 2014-15.

Tata revealed the car’s name back in November and heavily promoted it on social media when the world had still not woken up to fear the lethal, mosquito-borne virus called Zika. Over two dozen countries have been badly impacted by the virus which is said to affect pregnant women and lead to a birth defect called microcephaly – abnormalities including a very small head – in babies. The virus has not made any significant impact in India but the country is known to be particularly vulnerable to mosquito-borne diseases.

Tata, which owns the high-end Range Rover and Jaguar car brands, was pitting its Zica against the small car models of Korean carmaker Hyundai and Japanese automaker Maruti Suzuki in the hope of grabbing market share in the highly-competitive small car segment in India. The model is aimed at India’s young, first-time car-buyers.

But instead of the perky little Tata car, news about the damaging impact of Zika outbreak has dominated global headlines. Tata’s last small car, the Nano, was touted as the world’s cheapest car and was not exactly a marketing or sales success.

Had Tata retained the name, sales of the hatchback whose prices start at $5,500, would have been impacted by the negative connotation. Exporting the car to other emerging markets could have been a challenge too.


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