The Court of Munich has sided with Audi claiming that Chinese automaker Nio used confusing naming conventions for its three electric vehicles intended for sale in Germany, Automobilwoche reports. The cars will have to be sold under new names now.
According to Audi, the model range that Nio brought to Europe consisted of models named ‘ES6’, ‘ES7’ and ‘ES8’. The company believed that, despite being completely different from its own models in terms of design and features, some customers might confuse them with the Audi S6, S7 and S8.
The court agreed that, while the names were different on paper, they were close enough to cause some confusion. For example, many companies use the letter ‘E’ to denote electric vehicles. As such, you might reason that ‘ES6’ could as well be the all-electric version of the Audi S6 – which is, of course, not the case.
Should Nio violate the court regulation, it will be facing a fine up to €250,000, and the regional CEO may be facing up to six months in jail. The Chinese company has already confirmed that it would appeal the ruling.