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Chery QQ Ice Cream Images Confirm It Is a Copy of Wuling Hongguang Mini EV

Chinese carmakers were known for copying famous foreign designs. When it seemed they would no longer do that in pursuit of their own design languages, Chery confirmed it is not following the same path. In fact, it chose an unusual one: copying another Chinese brand, as official pictures of the QQ Ice Cream demonstrate. If you look at them pretty quickly, you’ll have the impression you are looking at a Wuling Hongguang Mini EV.
Chery QQ Ice Cream 16 photos
Photo: Chery
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They have emerged from the Chinese homologation process with the MIIT (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology). And there is a good reason for Chery to “get inspired” by the competitor: it outsells much more expensive electric vehicles by a large margin.

The more representative example used to be the Model 3, which the Mini EV beat mercilessly for many months. With the recent bad sales numbers in China lately, that Tesla is no longer that difficult to defeat in the Chinese market. In July, it sold only 6,601 units, while the Mini EV sold 30,706 units.

The curious note is that Tesla may have made more money by selling just a fraction of what the Wuling champion sold with the Model 3. As we have already told you, the Chinese automaker gets only RMB89 with each Mini EV it sells. That’s $15 at the current exchange rate.

Even the dimensions of the two cars are very similar. While the Mini EV is 2.92 meters long, 1.62 m tall, 1.49 m wide, and has a wheelbase of 1.94 m, the QQ Ice Cream is 2.98 m long, 1.64 m tall, 1.50 m wide, and has a wheelbase of 1.96 m. The Chery is slightly bigger, but only by a few centimeters, but it is also heavier: 743 kg against 665 kg of the Mini EV.

Probably to compensate for that, the QQ Ice Cream has a 20 kW (28 hp) motor in the rear axle. The Wuling is powered by a 13 kW (17 hp) motor. Both cars can carry up to four passengers, and their tires and wheels use precisely the same measures: 145/70 R12 tires.

With so many similarities, it will be up to brand reputation and price to decide who wins this dispute. By arriving later and having the same appearance, the QQ Ice Cream will have to make a reasonable effort to reach similar sales numbers as the Mini EV. Giving up on the "Mini SUV" idea would be a good start.

Source: 58che.com
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About the author: Gustavo Henrique Ruffo
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Motoring writer since 1998, Gustavo wants to write relevant stories about cars and their shift to a sustainable future.
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