Chinese copies of Western cars

[Brown, Jon Brow]

For years they've been copying other things for years, now they've started copying cars :s

http://www.automotoportal.com/media/images/vijesti/070204001.2.jpg


http://www.automotoportal.com/media/images/vijesti/070204001.3.jpg

http://www.automotoportal.com/media/images/vijesti/070204001.7.jpg

http://www.automotoportal.com/media/images/vijesti/070204001.9.jpg

[CarlMetro]

Are you sure thery're not just building them under licence? It's not the first country to do so either, Hindustani in India have been doing so for 30+ years, and remeber when Daewoo apeared with their slightly re-worked Mk11 Astra?

[jim mcglinchey]

What about the Barbie and Ken Mattel GT350....dont try lifting it kids or you'll put yer 'effin back out.....theres enough lead in that gloss to sink the Titanic!

[luvracin]

Are you sure thery're not just building them under licence? It's not the first country to do so either, Hindustani in India have been doing so for 30+ years, and remeber when Daewoo apeared with their slightly re-worked Mk11 Astra?

If they were "license" built copies it wouldn't be talked about. GM found blatant copies of it's own vehicles at the recent Shanghai Auto Show - the "copied" vehicles were in a more "low key" section of the show, but the companies were definitely not related(to GM) in any way.

[Iain]

I remember seeing an episode of 5th Gear a while back and they were showing you how rival manufacturers employ spys to go around motor shows and take detailed notes. They tried speaking to some Far Eastern people who were doing just that, but they weren't giving much away about what they were up to.

[BDunnell]

It really is hilariously blatant, and an indication of how China's own motor industry, for all the country's economic power, has failed to make a great deal of progress towards designing and building cars that appeal to people outside their country of origin. It's something that Japan and, to a great extent, South Korea have managed.

[ChrisS]

The smart copy is a Shuanghuan Noble and the X5 copy is a Shuanghuan CEO, I read about them last week Daimler and BMW are considering legal actions.

[ChrisS]

It really is hilariously blatant, and an indication of how China's own motor industry, for all the country's economic power, has failed to make a great deal of progress towards designing and building cars that appeal to people outside their country of origin. It's something that Japan and, to a great extent, South Korea have managed.

today yes but for years Japanese cars were copies of European cars not so obvious copies but copies none the less

a difference is that though unimaginative in design the Japanese cars were good quality reliable cars, something that from what I'm reading these cars are not

[BDunnell]

today yes but for years Japanese cars were copies of European cars not so obvious copies but copies none the less

I agree, but they learned quickly and, by the 1960s, were doing it differently.

Still, today's situation with China is a bit different because there is surely a political dimension to its piracy of all sorts of Western goods.

[schmenke]

The Chinese historically have never been original in any of their designs.
Chinese designs in everything from architecture to clothing have typically been copied :s

[AndyRAC]

They do it with bikes as well, from what I've heard, it's best not to touch them at all.

[Hondo]

I agree, but they learned quickly and, by the 1960s, were doing it differently.

Still, today's situation with China is a bit different because there is surely a political dimension to its piracy of all sorts of Western goods.

The US market has been flooded with all kinds of cheap, Chinese made dirt bikes and off road playthings. Most of the engines are direct copies of the old Honda designs, 200, 110, 90, 70, & 50cc although cheaply made and poor reliability.

BDunnell you put far too much faith in your society of laws. It works only as long as everybody fears or respects the law. Which is why constantly trotting out laws has such small impact on crime. The people that didn't care about the law before, don't care about the new one either. Trust me on this one. China is huge. Their population is huge. They are reasonably strong militarily and even if they weren't, they have enough people to keep coming at you for 10 years with nothing more than spears. They will play the political games they want to and ignore the ones they don't like.

In short, China doesn't give a damn what you think and could care less about your political dimensions. You're talking about a country wallowing in the mud after WWII with a new communist government, virtually no technology, and a starving, uneducated population that still manages to build it's own nuclear weapons in short order. They have copied and will continue to copy anything they want, cars, trucks, weapons, aircraft, etc. Where are you going to send them with your sanctions that they haven't already been and survived? Back to the stone age? Been there, done it, survived it. What else you got?

[BDunnell]

The US market has been flooded with all kinds of cheap, Chinese made dirt bikes and off road playthings. Most of the engines are direct copies of the old Honda designs, 200, 110, 90, 70, & 50cc although cheaply made and poor reliability.

BDunnell you put far too much faith in your society of laws. It works only as long as everybody fears or respects the law. Which is why constantly trotting out laws has such small impact on crime. The people that didn't care about the law before, don't care about the new one either. Trust me on this one. China is huge. Their population is huge. They are reasonably strong militarily and even if they weren't, they have enough people to keep coming at you for 10 years with nothing more than spears. They will play the political games they want to and ignore the ones they don't like.

In short, China doesn't give a damn what you think and could care less about your political dimensions. You're talking about a country wallowing in the mud after WWII with a new communist government, virtually no technology, and a starving, uneducated population that still manages to build it's own nuclear weapons in short order. They have copied and will continue to copy anything they want, cars, trucks, weapons, aircraft, etc. Where are you going to send them with your sanctions that they haven't already been and survived? Back to the stone age? Been there, done it, survived it. What else you got?

Excuse me, but where did I advocate sanctions? You're putting words into my mouth again.

[Daniel]

Jon. You think that's funny!

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSPEK15436320070905?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews

Chinese piracy sinks to new levels :mark:

[Hondo]

Excuse me, but where did I advocate sanctions? You're putting words into my mouth again.

Okay, what sort of political implications did you have in mind? What are you going threaten them with that they haven't overcome before? It's a lot like career criminals. Jail and prison is home to them. You may be afraid of going to prison but for them it's like going back to Mom's house. The time they spend outside the walls on parole or probation or between sentences is their "Club Med" vacation time and they are going to whoop it up while they can but they aren't afraid of going back. They adhere to the rules of their society not yours. Prison is 3 effortless meals a day, a bed, medical care, a trifling little job, and all the drugs they enjoyed on the outside.

You tell me how you are going to force China to do something. Bear in mind that it is China that is holding North Korea's leash.

[TangoR34]

the only decent, non-copying chinese manufacturer is Geely

[BDunnell]

Okay, what sort of political implications did you have in mind? What are you going threaten them with that they haven't overcome before? It's a lot like career criminals. Jail and prison is home to them. You may be afraid of going to prison but for them it's like going back to Mom's house. The time they spend outside the walls on parole or probation or between sentences is their "Club Med" vacation time and they are going to whoop it up while they can but they aren't afraid of going back. They adhere to the rules of their society not yours. Prison is 3 effortless meals a day, a bed, medical care, a trifling little job, and all the drugs they enjoyed on the outside.

You tell me how you are going to force China to do something. Bear in mind that it is China that is holding North Korea's leash.

Where on earth did I mention the need to force China to do something? The answer is nowhere.

[schmenke]

Christ-on-a-bike, Fiero, do you log on to this forum only to look for a fight to pick? :s

[Malbec]

The Chinese historically have never been original in any of their designs.

Chinese designs in everything from architecture to clothing have typically been copied :s

The accusation that certain people always copy is easily made but ignores genuine originality. I'm not entirely sure what western building the Forbidden Palace is a copy of?

Yep for some Chinese car companies copying is a short cut to quick sales, some of the above pics are mere look alikes but I hear that there are some factories simply churning out replicas of VWs and Hondas accurate to the last millimetre both on the outside and under the skin. The thing is that these companies are going to find it more and more difficult to carry on doing things this blatantly, not only will noone outside China import them for fear of being sued themselves, the Chinese government are showing signs of clamping down on the more outrageous copies, they've already shut down a chain of cafes that had a passing resemblence to starbucks (less of a blatant copy than some of the cars up there).

The Japanese didn't copy Western cars but many of their early efforts were penned by European designers hence the resemblance. You don't really want to see some of the early home designed Japanese efforts..... The Japanese then continued to develop their own technology but still couldn't get past the 'they can only copy' tag even after many of the companies they were supposedly copying had gone bust.

[schmenke]

The accusation that certain people always copy is easily made but ignores genuine originality. I'm not entirely sure what western building the Forbidden Palace is a copy of?...

I was thinking in terms of more recent history. Several recent decades of communist rule has stifled creative thinking. At least the drab grey clothing is gone... :mark: