Posted on Thursday 30 August 2007
The Chinese carmaker accused by BMW and Mercedes-Smart of copying their designs has rejected the claims, citing that it had approval from the Chinese government to build the cars as its defense. Shuanghuan manufactures the Noble minicar, an almost identical replica of the Smart Fortwo, as well as the CEO, a SUV with the rear-end of a BMW X5.
Both BMW and Mercedes have threatened Shuanghuan and its European importer with legal action if the Chinese carmaker carries out its plans to display the suspect cars at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show.
“Noble and CEO cars, approved by the Chinese government, are legal products,” a spokesperson for Shuanghuan told reporters from AFP. Further, the spokesperson explained that the Noble is only sold in China, while the only export markets the CEO is sold in is in parts of Africa and Southeast Asia. There were also no plans to display the cars at next month’s Frankfurt show, he said.
phfttt…so you think, copy-boy!
Pathetic…
This is pathetic. Not only do they copy BMW and Mercedes-Benz, but they even copied the Pontiac Torrent and other cars. Fortunately, if they ever come to North America they will probably get sued. Shame on the Chinese government too. But I’m not really surprised, they can’t even make lead free crayons and toys.
I think the Chinese have made some very original cars. Heck, all manufacturers copy each other anyways, be it styling cues and stuff. I dont think the CEO or Noble are direct clone with exact dimensions, much like Kia and Hyundai “copying” Infiniti/Nissan in the 90’s. I am Chinese myself, be honest, yet that doesn’t justify me being bias. The Korean came late to the game and they were perfectly OK to “copy” others. Why can’t the same be applied to Chinese? I presume you guys are bias and thus bashing Chinese cars for the sake of being anti-Chinese? The Chinese has came a long way: millenia of war, feudalism, and communism (notibly the human revolution) that stagnated the culture.
Gameyu, Infiniti/Nissan have worked out a deal to co-manufacture and such with the Korean companies, which is why there were clones. These clones were previously approved and agreed upon between the two companies, with terms and conditions and all that legal stuff–which makes it LEGAL. That is not the case with the Chinese. In fact, China copies everything without any warning, disclosure, or agreements, and in the process throw ALL consumer protection precautions out the door (i.e. lead paint for cost). The Chinese culture does not appreciate nor understand the concept of LONG TERM thinking and planning, only wanting to make that quick buck. This is a huge problem in all industries which explains why they destroy almost every brand they get their hands on. From fashion products to cars, to even fake Pork Buns and fake Eggs? Come on, you are pathetic for trying to defend a pathetic excuse for modernization. All countries have had extensive struggles, and China is not the only country with thousands of years of history, so stop crying foul. Its plain and simple. Stop copying, stop destroying the longevity of brands and business ideas by copying and black-marketing, put some of those billions of brains in your country together, and come up with your own ideas. For god sake, you took a Soviet missile that was mothballed from the 70’s to use for your “space program” and jumped for joy claiming YOUR victory. All that proved was that Soviet technology back then was solid, and that you can fly other peoples equipment. For a country with so much history, you have a looooooonnnngggg way to go.
Okay, like any capitalist society understands long term thinking? K…maybe the Japanese and they are experiencing a static economy. Unfortuantely, this is an example of consumerism. The consumer rules and if they want a car that looks like the X5 for far less $$$ than so much the better. Sure, the purist will ignore them and scoff and maybe have hurt feelings. But they will turn off the assembly line faster and cheaper. I agree, not fun to watch, but neither is the Walmartization of our World.
While consumer preferences and market demands IS the cornerstone of capitalism, I do feel that my view is not one of a purist, rather, a more educated consumer. In fact, with the advent of the internet, consumers are getting smarter and wiser, which makes companies work harder to re-capture, or at least hold on to, their customers. Now follow me here; these smarter consumers want better products and/or better prices. Failure to do so will cause consumers to seek the products and services elsewhere, resulting in the possible end of the business. This necessitates companies to look a little longer term than in past decades. Not becuase they want to protect their industry, not to help their country, not for any philosophical philantropic , but simply to ensure long term cash flow and business health–capitalism. Afterall, repeat customers make the business, right? Perfect example: who is going to buy another toy from company X when last years toy from this company nearly killed my neighbors kid? This requires Company X to think longer term, shelling out the bigger bucks now to ensure safety so that the customer will keep coming back INSTEAD of just being happy that I maximized margins for that toy last year. Having that said, enter chinese companies who want to play the capitalism game, make that quick buck, and bail. No long term thinking, no planned anything, no consideration for killing/injuring thousands of people through lead paints, cars that fall apart, food that isnt really food, buildings and infrastructure that crumbles, you get the picture. Sure, one can say “if the people want that product at that price, then its fair game.” But its easy to say that in our great country where extraordiary steps and measures are used to protect the consumer from these types of cutting-of-corners. But that begs the question: “Did you know that the pack of dozen eggs (or pork buns or cars or clothes or toys or etc…) that you purchased was fake when you decided to get the pack that cost a dollar less?” Im sure it wasnt advertised, nor was that info easily accessible. Now imagine a world where consumers are misled, misguided, misinformed about the products they consume, wear, breathe, drink, drive, only to find that there is no recourse, no legal remedy, and the only answer is to “deal with it.” That is not capitalism. That is fraud.
One more piece of Low Quality Junk from the scrupulous Chinese market. surprised? nahh. China’s economy is striving on others work and effort (copy / cloning) wonder whats next…? OH! can’t wait to look in youtube for the crash test of the noble oh yeah….. the better start cloning test dummies they gonna need them…!