Renault wins battle to call its new car Zoe

French car manufacturer Renault has won the right to name its new breed of electric car the 'Zoe'. The moniker has finally been approved by a court in France after a legal challenge from the families of two girls... called Zoe Renault.

Their lawyer had tried to stop the name, arguing: "There's a line between living things and inanimate objects, and that line is defined by the first name. We're telling Renault one very simple thing: first names are for humans."

The families had claimed that their children, and anyone else in France called Zoe, faced ridicule for sharing their name with a car. But they lost the case when the judge said there was no evidence that they would suffer "certain, direct and current harm". The parents of the girls, aged two and eight, say they plan to appeal.

After the case David Koubbi, representing the families, gave a graphic insight into the kind of abuse the girls may face in the future, telling reporters that they would be approached by men in bars who would ask, "Can I see your airbags?" and "Can I shine your bumper?"

But the car company was unmoved by the prospect of such humiliations and pointed out during the case that there are already 122 products around the world called Zoe, not to mention the many thousands of others which also use names usually associated with people.

Renault, which itself has car models called Clio and Megane, hopes to launch the electric Renault Zoe ZE in 2012. The ZE stands for zero emissions and the girl's name, which means 'life' in Greek, was chosen to reinforce its green credentials. ·