Nissan Motor Co.'s popular March compact becomes the Micra in Europe, while Toyota's Vitz is known as the Echo in the U.S. and the Yaris in Europe.
Calpis, a famous beverage in Japan, is Calpico in some countries, while Canon's Autoboy autofocus compact camera goes by the name Sureshot in the United States.
With Sony's Walkman as an exception, Japanese consumer products are often renamed for overseas markets, in part because of already registered trademarks but also because some names would prompt anger, or at the very least, chuckles.
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