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Chinese Clones - The Story of Soulless and Affordable Cars (Page 2)

Chinese Clones - The Story of Soulless and Affordable Cars 1 photo
Photo: carmk.net
Continued from Page 1 of "Chinese Clones - The Story of Soulless and Affordable Cars"Back in 2009, a story that appeared in the Chinese media made us cry. BYD, the company that encourages you to build your dreams, was reportedly planning its very own version of Porsche's Cayenne. Many people thought it was only a joke and claimed the photo that reached the Internet and showing the so-called BYD T6 was nothing more than an internal newspaper of the Chinese car manufacturer.

More, the car was believed to be a Photoshop, although some sources even pointed to some technical specs: a 2.0-liter 4 cylinder engine with no more than 200 horsepower. You can laugh now, and enjoy some real tech specs of the new Cayenne: a 3.6-liter V6 engine that develops 300 hp and helps the car go from naught to sixty in 7,5 seconds.

Now that we have already built our dreams, let's go further to another Chinese carmaker that deserves all the praises (to be read with a smile on the face). Not many of you heard of SG Automotive Group, but we're pretty sure that you're familiar with Lexus, Toyota's luxury division that builds cars for both the United States and Europe. Well, the engineers over at SG Automotive Group worked hard and after months of spying, they managed to create the so-called Qisheng V3, which is 99 percent a Lexus RX 350. Check the photos below if you don't trust us.

The technical side of the Chinese model is, let's say... decent, but only because Mitsubishi was supposed to back this model up with two engines, 2.0- and 2.4-liter respectively. In pure form, the Lexus RX350 is powered by a 3.5-liter V6 engine that develops 204 horsepower and a maximum speed of 200 km/h. 0-62 mph sprint in 8 seconds flat.

Geely is now a very important player in the automotive industry, not because it's Chinese, but because it's the adoptive father of Volvo, a company that was severely hit by the recently vanished economic recession. When they're not busy driving their Volvos, Geely's engineers take a sneak peek at Japanese manufacturers and steal their designs.

The living proof is the so-called Emgrand EC8, a model revealed in September 2010 that was unofficially baptized Geely Camery. Wonder why? Because it copies the much more popular Toyota Camry, at least design-wise because the technical side makes everybody smile and forget about it in just a second.

We won't spend too much with the technical chapter, but read this: the “Camery” was equipped with either a 2.4-liter engine with 159 horsepower or a 2.0-liter unit with 136 horsepower. The price – around $16,000.

For the sake of comparison, the last Camry comes in two engine flavors, namely 2.5- and 3.5-liter, with the latter developing 268 horsepower and a top speed of 137 mph (220 km/h). Pricing for the new Camry starts in the United States from $22,000.

Our eyes were bleeding once again in September 2011. The self-proclaimed “car manufacturer” Yema Auto attended last year's Chengdu Auto with three of its uber new models that were supposed to prove the world that Chinese companies do have the know-how to build cars. This is why the Yema T-SUV, the Yema E-SUV and the Yema F16 enjoyed such great success. In a negative way, of course.

We won't go too much into details because it still hurts so much, but we need to mention that the T-SUV was nothing more than a Volkswagen Touareg, while the E-SUV was an Infiniti EX crossover that spoke Chinese. Last but not least, the F16 was not a plane, but an Audi A4 rip-off. Disgusting! And here are the proofs along with some short facts.

Here's the original Volkswagen Tiguan:

And here is the Chinese T-SUV:

We bet you know the Infiniti EX crossover, but here it is:

The less-known E-SUV Chinese clone looks like this:

Finally, Audi A4 is already a popular model, so the following photos should not surprise you:

But the ones with the Chinese rip-off should:

Mercedes is a famous global car manufacturer and we're pretty sure Chinese would enjoy driving a Mercedes at least as much as we would. And since the vehicles produced by the German company are more or less expensive, the Chinese developed their very own Mercedes.

Called BC301, the model created by Beijing Auto was actually a Mercedes B-Klasse clone presented earlier this year. And because we're pretty sure the name Beijing Auto does ring a bell to you, this is the company that was often involved in takeover negotiations with European car manufacturers severely affected by financial problems.

Getting back to their car, BC301 resembled the previous generation B-Klasse not only in terms of exterior styling, but also when it comes to the interior. There were reportedly two engine flavors supposed to be available, 1.3- and 1.5-liter, with 99 and 113 horsepower, respectively. Pricing was expected to begin at $11,000, much more affordable than a regular Mercedes B-Klasse.

Now let's get to something that really makes us laugh: the JAC 4R3 that's more “Ford” than “Built Tough”. Revealed earlier this year, the latest “creation” belonging to JAC Motors, was actually a Ford F-150 rip-off that was expected to be revealed at the Beijing Motor Show in April (you'll find out later why this actually never happened).

Besides the fact that it copies the original F-150 exterior design, the JAC 4R3 even comes with a Blue Oval-like logo on the grille that was really getting on Ford's nerves.

And that's not all. The most powerful Ford F-150 Super Crew version comes equipped with a 5.4-liter engine that develops 320 horsepower and 529 Nm of torque. The Chinese clone can be rough too, so it was supposed to be equipped with a four-cylinder diesel engine with a final output of... hold your breath... drums please!... 108 horsepower. Let's move on.

Throwing up already? Too bad, because we have more. Back in 2009, the Chinese folks managed once again to reach the first page of newspapers from all over the world thanks to a truly luxurious model, which you can see in the next photo batch by the way.

No, stop scratching your head, you're not having a deja-vu, that's a Rolls Royce Phantom clone, although the guys over at Geely, the same proud now-Volvo owner, claim it isn't. The British luxury car manufacturer remained tight-lipped on the subject and hoped to see buyers capable of making the difference between the two models.

Well, to be honest, we're not sure if the design manages to make any difference, but the price surely does. A Rolls Royce Phantom is, as we're pretty sure you know, a very expensive car, with a price tag of more than $300,000. Not the same can be said about Geely's GE which was expected to come with a shocking price tag: $45,000!

Beijing Automobile Works also wants to make a name for itself by... ripping off very popular designs. One of their first “victims” was Jeep Wrangler, a model that got the chance to see its look-alike in 2010 at the Beijing Auto Show. Baptized B40, the off-road model, Chinese brother of the Wrangler, came with breathtaking tech specs (we hope you notice the irony): a 2.4-liter engine with 141 horsepower and a 5-speed manual transmission.

The one and only Jeep Wrangler comes with a 3.8-liter engine in the top configuration, reaching 196 horsepower at 5000 rpm and developing a maximum torque of 315 Nm at 4000 rpm.

A long time ago, Mazda had a crush on a Chinese manufacturer called Haima, but the two partners decided to break up in 2007. Unsurprisingly, Mazda was Haima's love of its life, so the Chinese manufacturer continued to build cars that were nothing more than blatant copies of Mazda's very own products.

At the Shanghai Auto Show in 2009, Haima proved once again that it can't forget Mazda with the so-called M2, an obvious Mazda2 rip-off. Notice the name resemblance? It's no surprise, but Haima copied the Mazda3 too, and sells it as M3.

A few words for tech heads too: the M2 was available in two engine flavors, 1.3- and a 1.5-liter, both unfocused on efficiency and CO2 emissions.

We've saved the best for last. Back in 2007, the Chinese copied Mercedes' very own smart fortwo and brought it on the German's playground right in Europe. What's more, they announced the public debut at the Frankfurt Auto Show, on Mercedes' home land.

The so-called Shuanghuan Noble was clearly a smart fortwo copy, but the German officials initially reacted in a very surprising way: they said the two cars are in a different class in terms of quality.

The shocking news was that Shuanghuan Noble was supposed to be sold on the German market as well, in order to become the cheapest car sold there. With enough room for four, the car was believed to come with a price tag of 7,000 euros. How's the quality difference now, Mercedes?

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About the author: Bogdan Popa
Bogdan Popa profile photo

Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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