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03-08-2013, 10:14 AM
Filed under: Concept Cars (http://www.autoblog.com/category/conceptcars/), Hybrid (http://www.autoblog.com/category/hybrids/), Geneva Motor Show (http://www.autoblog.com/category/geneva-motor-show/), Etc. (http://www.autoblog.com/category/etc/), Europe (http://www.autoblog.com/category/euro/), Government/Legal (http://www.autoblog.com/category/government-legal/), Hatchback (http://www.autoblog.com/category/hatchbacks/), Kia (http://www.autoblog.com/category/kia/)
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2013/03/kia-provo-concept-geneva-628-1362756724.jpg (http://www.autoblog.com/photos/kia-provo-concept-geneva-2013/)
In the relatively lengthy press release that Kia (http://www.autoblog.com/kia/) composed for the launch of its Provo concept car (http://www.autoblog.com/2013/03/05/kia-provo-concept-geneva-2013/?) at the Geneva Motor Show (http://www.autoblog.com/tag/geneva%20motor%20show/) this week, the company never mentioned where the name came from, or what it means for the car. A very basic web search for "Provo" reveals that the inspiration for the hatch could have been a city in Utah, a township in South Dakota or a village in Bosnia. The name could be a reference to either an American (Fred) or Canadian (Dwayne) football player, and Provo might also accurately reference a "Dutch counterculture movement in the mid-1960s" or a ship in the US Navy. More likely than any of those, however, is that the Kia designers of the concept - a car that was wholly a product of the Korean automaker's design studios in Frankfurt, for the record - meant it as a play on the existing Pro_cee'd hatchback (http://www.autoblog.com/tag/kia+pro+ceed/).
What the designers and Kia executives that signed off on the Provo almost certainly did not have in mind was a reference to a street name for the Provisional Irish Republican Army. That "Provo" was, according to TheDetroitBureau.com, an outlawed army faction that was blamed for some 2,000 deaths in Northern Ireland during a period stretching from 1970 to 1997.
And yet, it was that association that led Gregory Campbell, a member of parliament from Northern Ireland, to introduce legislation that would ban Kia from selling a car under the name Provo. Kia, quick to realize the sizable gaffe it has stumbled into with the name, has reportedly already promised not to use the name for a production vehicle.Provo concept name has Kia embroiled in terrorism controversy? (http://www.autoblog.com/2013/03/08/provo-concept-name-has-kia-embroiled-in-terrorism-controversy/) originally appeared on Autoblog (http://www.autoblog.com) on Fri, 08 Mar 2013 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).
Permalink (http://www.autoblog.com/2013/03/08/provo-concept-name-has-kia-embroiled-in-terrorism-controversy/) | Email this (http://www.autoblog.com/forward/20494635/) | Comments (http://www.autoblog.com/2013/03/08/provo-concept-name-has-kia-embroiled-in-terrorism-controversy/#comments)
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http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2013/03/kia-provo-concept-geneva-628-1362756724.jpg (http://www.autoblog.com/photos/kia-provo-concept-geneva-2013/)
In the relatively lengthy press release that Kia (http://www.autoblog.com/kia/) composed for the launch of its Provo concept car (http://www.autoblog.com/2013/03/05/kia-provo-concept-geneva-2013/?) at the Geneva Motor Show (http://www.autoblog.com/tag/geneva%20motor%20show/) this week, the company never mentioned where the name came from, or what it means for the car. A very basic web search for "Provo" reveals that the inspiration for the hatch could have been a city in Utah, a township in South Dakota or a village in Bosnia. The name could be a reference to either an American (Fred) or Canadian (Dwayne) football player, and Provo might also accurately reference a "Dutch counterculture movement in the mid-1960s" or a ship in the US Navy. More likely than any of those, however, is that the Kia designers of the concept - a car that was wholly a product of the Korean automaker's design studios in Frankfurt, for the record - meant it as a play on the existing Pro_cee'd hatchback (http://www.autoblog.com/tag/kia+pro+ceed/).
What the designers and Kia executives that signed off on the Provo almost certainly did not have in mind was a reference to a street name for the Provisional Irish Republican Army. That "Provo" was, according to TheDetroitBureau.com, an outlawed army faction that was blamed for some 2,000 deaths in Northern Ireland during a period stretching from 1970 to 1997.
And yet, it was that association that led Gregory Campbell, a member of parliament from Northern Ireland, to introduce legislation that would ban Kia from selling a car under the name Provo. Kia, quick to realize the sizable gaffe it has stumbled into with the name, has reportedly already promised not to use the name for a production vehicle.Provo concept name has Kia embroiled in terrorism controversy? (http://www.autoblog.com/2013/03/08/provo-concept-name-has-kia-embroiled-in-terrorism-controversy/) originally appeared on Autoblog (http://www.autoblog.com) on Fri, 08 Mar 2013 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).
Permalink (http://www.autoblog.com/2013/03/08/provo-concept-name-has-kia-embroiled-in-terrorism-controversy/) | Email this (http://www.autoblog.com/forward/20494635/) | Comments (http://www.autoblog.com/2013/03/08/provo-concept-name-has-kia-embroiled-in-terrorism-controversy/#comments)
More... (http://www.autoblog.com/2013/03/08/provo-concept-name-has-kia-embroiled-in-terrorism-controversy/)