Why did Russian car manufacturer AvtoVAZ stop selling cars under the name Zhiguli?

When AvtoVAZ wanted to expand internationally, the name "Lada" was considered more marketable and easier for non-Russian speakers to pronounce. AvtoVAZ was also concerned about unintended connotations in foreign markets. "Zhiguli" sounded similar in some languages to words associated with crime or vulgarity, particularly in Italian and other Western languages, where it was reminiscent of "gigolo".

The "Zhiguli" name was largely phased out by the 1990s, with all models officially rebranded as "Lada" also in Russia. However, older Russians still colloquially refer to some classic Lada models (like the VAZ-2101) as "Zhiguli".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhiguli_(car_brand)