07/24/2008, 00.00
CHINA – ITALY
Send to a friend

Chinese carmaker found guilty of copying Italy’s Panda car

Many Western and Japanese companies accuse Chinese car companies of plagiarism. For some experts China still lacks the necessary experience to make original cars.
Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Western car companies are up in arms against Chinese companies for copyright infringements. In the latest case China’s auto giant Great Wall Motor has been banned from selling its ‘Peri’ model in Italy because it is a copy of Fiat’s Panda. On Monday the US-based Visionary Vehicles filed a lawsuit charging Chery Automobile with "corrupt practices", alleging the Anhui-based company stole proprietary information whilst the two companies were in partnership to export cars to the United States.

On 18 July a court in Turin (Italy) found Great Wall Motor guilty, slapping a € 15,000 (US$ 23,000) fine for the first Peri imported with fines of up to €50,000 for further violations.

This is the second ruling against Chinese carmakers.

Great Wall deputy general manager Bai Xuefei has rejected the claim that his company copied the Panda, saying that the carmaker is assessing whether to appeal or not.

The car is exported to Europe, Russia, Latin America and South-East Asia, and the company has increased its capacity to 500,000 units per year with sales worth 30 billion yuan.

The company has also been accused that two other of its economy cars are copies of Japan’s Toyota Yaris and Daihatsu Materia.

Such charges against Chinese companies are not new. Last year, a regional court in Munich, Germany, ruled that Shijiazhuang Shuanghuan Automobile could no longer sell its CEO sports utility vehicle in Germany because it resembled BMW's X5.

Also last year Mercedes-Benz said Shijiazhuang Shuanghuan’s Noble minicar was like its Smart for Two car, and got an injunction against the car from participation in the Bologna Motor Show in Italy.

Toyota failed however to stop Shuanghuan from selling its Ufo model, which it claims to be very similar to its Rav4 but at a price tag that is 40 per cent cheaper.

In 2004 US-based General Motors said that the QQ by Chery Automobile was a clone of its Chevrolet Spark.

But for John Bonnell, director of marketing intelligence for Asia-Pacific at J.D. Power, “most Chinese brands still have a quality gap to close with global manufacturers.”

In his view “the measures for quality spelled out for Chinese carmakers recently do indicate those companies are still learning the complicated process of manufacturing [their] vehicles.”

Still Chinese carmakers want to flood the world market and take advantage of their lower production costs thanks to cheap labour and energy and state subsidies. (PB)

TAGs
Send to a friend
Printable version
CLOSE X
See also
Pope talks about the Middle East, the Holy Land and the food crisis with Bush
13/06/2008
White House to stop Beijing's "imperialist" policy in the South China Sea
24/01/2017 15:55
Beijing to suspend ‘panda diplomacy’
14/09/2007
The first Huawei technology driverless car is on sale
20/04/2021 11:39
Seoul, 96 year old driver kills pedestrian: alarm over elderly at the wheel
16/02/2019 09:19


Newsletter

Subscribe to Asia News updates or change your preferences

Subscribe now
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”