The Chinese-Israeli co-production Qoros has not sold a single car yet, but it already finds itself in the legal hot seat. Via a temporary injunction of a court in Hamburg, Germany, Audi precluded Qoros from using – the letter Q.

Qoros 3 Sedan

„The letter Q is a protected part of our brand portfolio,“ Audi is quoted in Der Kfz-Betrieb. „If another car maker uses the letter Q for a name plate, then this affects us, of course.”

This, also of course, should trigger alarm bells at Nissan’s Infiniti. The luxury marque decided to Q-up all its cars behind the letter Q. However, Infiniti told Kfz-Betrieb that there are no complaints pending – yet . Or maybe, Audi does not want to get legally entangled with Nissan, but hopes that a Chinese manufacturer is automatically guilty of infringement. However, our legal researcher Chocolatedeath has found evidence of a prior settlement that shows Infiniti as the infringed party.

Audi Q7

German media report that the legal bluster is not about branded letters, but meant to “keep Qoros down,” as Die Welt writes.  “Is Audi scared of Chinese Qoros?” asks Focus.

Qoros  dropped the Q and calls its new car the  “Qoros 3 Sedan.”  Which could ring alarm bells at BMW …. But then, if I’d be Audi, I would be careful. The best-known Qs in China are the two Qs of the Chery QQ. Chery owns half of Qoros. Audi has a lot to lose in China …