Fiat says Gingo - Renault says Twingo; Avocats say No No - Fiat Avvocati says "OK, So No Gingo" - So whata willa the Fiat Name Be? Panda?

MILAN July 27, Dow Jones reported that with only five weeks left before presenting its new city car, Fiat SpA is pondering a new name for the vehicle, a spokesman for the Italian automaker said Sunday.

Fiat had christened the new model, which debuts on Sept. 1 in Lisbon, the Gingo, but rival French carmaker Renault (F.RNA) has objected that the moniker sounds too much like its own 11-year-old subcompact, the Twingo.

Fiat will change the name rather than risk legal proceedings, the spokesman said.

The probable solution is to use Panda, a name that sold 5 million units over three decades, he said.

Production of the Panda is being phased out, and Fiat is now selling them for as little as EUR5,500 at dealerships.

The Gingo replaces the Panda with all-new production and not a remake as are the recently redesigned Lancia Y and Fiat Punto that the Italian company has launched this year. The name was presented at the Geneva motor show in March, and appeared again at the Tour de France, which Fiat is helping sponsor

To combat slumping market share, Fiat Auto, which has made money in only one year of the past eight, has been slashing jobs and ramping up the rollout of new models in a bid to catch up with its peers and return to profitability.

Key models include the former Gingo and the Idea, a mini-passenger van scheduled to debut in October.

The new models should help Fiat "turn the corner" in the fourth quarter, Chief Executive Giuseppe Morchio has said.

Separately, an Italian judge ruled Saturday that Fiat had failed to comply with labor regulations in laying off 1,023 employees at its Alfa Romeo plant in Arese, near Milan.

The layoffs were approved last December, when Fiat presented a business plan saying it would stop production at Arese and keep only the design center for its premium Alfa Romeo brand there.

The local chapter of the left-wing CGIL union and an independent labor organization that filed the suit rejoiced, as did local politicians and clerics, according to the local press.

A Fiat spokesman said the company didn't comment on court verdicts.

According to a lawyer for the company, Fiat will probably appeal, while also filing the layoff requests again under correct procedures.

In the meantime, however, the company may be forced to provide back pay to the workers, who were sent on furlough last December under a government-approved plan that taps a fund to which all Italian industrial firms make annual contributions. Workers laid off under the plan receive 60% of their wages.

The extra cost for Fiat is unlikely to exceed EUR2 million, a person familiar with the situation said.