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January 22, 2008
Latest Chinese Clone: The Mini
By Jen
Editor
Motor Authority reports that China’s Lifan Auto has appropriated the design of BMW’s Mini Cooper, creating an uncannily similar vehicle that they’re calling the "3-series" (sound familiar?). Chinese automakers’ penchant for copycatting is getting them kicked out of a lot of parties—but hey, if you’re looking for a reasonable facsimilie of a legitimate car that’s thousands of dollars cheaper than the real thing and will kill you in your first 10-mph collision, Lifan might be your new best friend.
Comments
Anatoly
Feb 20, 2008 at 4:13 pm
most of their cars are for internal consumption, i think the total export is about 200k per year. It will be pretty hard to do anything about it.
With 12 different copies of Honda CRV made by different companies (down to about 150 now), I am not surprised to see they got to this too. Let’s hope they develop like Japan and US in their own time periods, and start to improve the quality and respect for IP in time, perhaps soon we will consider them real cars
ted
Jan 23, 2008 at 3:00 am
They apparently don’t think or don’t care they’re being perceived as a$$holes for what they’re doing. I sincerely hope they’re not going to be rewarded with robust sales… instead multiple lawsuits and embargos.
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Hey, China! Design your own damn cars! Stop directly copying off others. With BILLIONS within your borders you can’t come up with decent design professionals and unique ideas for your car companies????????????
kap0w
Jan 22, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Just imagine what would happen if the Chinese auto companies applied their knack for ripping off designs to ripping off safety features. *That* would be something to see.