China's copycars: familiar-looking vehicles at Shanghai Auto 2009

[Dixie]

I have searched this forum for this, but found nothing, except the Germans copying from the Chinese. I am venturing into male territory here

Came across this ultimate rip-off whilst researching something unrelated

Rolls-Royce is consulting lawyers after the Chinese launched the Geely GE, a copycat car, including a winged mascot and huge radiator grill, for just £30,000...

Edit:
Follow the link - many more cars to choose from, like the Mini and Smart Car

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring...r-looking-vehicles-at-Shanghai-Auto-2009.html

 

[supersunbird]

LOL, I'm pretty sure its nowhere near the same quality...

 

[Dixie]

LOL, I'm pretty sure its nowhere near the same quality...

Not if you watch this clip!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5SR.../showthread.php?t=298&feature=player_embedded

 

[DJ...]

A recent Top Gear episode focussed on some of the Chinese imitation cars. I think this one (or a similar one) was featured. As they stated, the quality isn't quite the same, however you couldn't expect it to be at that price tag...

 

[dj_jyno]

It might be a copy of a Rolls-Royce, but doesn't match the quality (visual or mechanical) of a real one at all. One look was all I needed to go . Looks like a blind Chinese kid assembled it using parts from a lucky packet. As opposed to this: http://www.londonweddingcar.com/a/i/rolls-royce-phantom-wedding.jpg

 

[Picard]

But like James May of Top Gear said ... wrt the Rolls Royce imitation ... They know they are not the real deal and in the process they are not taking themselves that seriously.

So the bottom line is ... alow them to be what they want. If they are directly competeing against RR then of course you can become loyalist and defensive about those Chinese brands.

But as yet ... chill out ... nothing major is going to happen anytime soon.

 

[dj_jyno]

It's not that I'm loyalist, it's just that the Chinese manufacturers take beautifully-designed automobiles and mangle them into some hideous metal things. It's the intellectual property theft that I have a problem with.

Case in point - Chery QQ3 vs Daewoo Matiz. The doors of the Matiz fit exactly onto the Chery. How much time and money did GM spend to develop the Matiz (Italdesign can't be cheap), only to be copied by a Chinese manufacturer. Same with the Geely GE vs. Rolls-Royce, or the MINI lookalike.