Kia's Provo Car Model Angers Unionist MPs

Korean car maker Kia has faced calls from MPs to rename its new Provo concept car because the name was also used to refer to the Provisional IRA.

Unionist MPs have demanded a rethink and that Kia give the car a title which is "not associated with terror and mayhem".

Kia insists the name comes from "provoke", and said in a statement that it would not market any future car as a Provo in the UK or Republic of Ireland.

A prototype of the planned super-mini sports coupe was revealed at the Geneva International Motor Show in Switzerland earlier.

The carmaker claimed the "sleek, low, yet muscular coupe-style" design was "meant to be cheeky and cheerful in its compactness and to hint at the fun awaiting on the open road".

But Democratic Unionist Party MPs Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) and William McCrea (South Antrim) claimed the name has caused "deep offence".

In a Commons motion the MPs said: "This name has caused deep offence given that the Provisional IRA were known as the Provos when they were murdering and bombing in Northern Ireland, the rest of the UK, as well as in Germany, where the name is supposed to have been chosen."

The motion called on Kia to reconsider the name.

The carmaker is not the first to upset people with an unfortunate choice of name for a model.

In Spanish, Chevy's Nova means "doesn't go" and Mazda's LaPuta translates as "the whore".