Daimler Loses Court Action Against smart Chinese Imitator

Unfortunately, the Chinese did it again and this time they are even backed by European courts. A Greek judge ruled against German manufacturer Daimler who claimed that so-called Noble, developed by Shuanghuan Automobile, shares a lot of parts with its very own smart fortwo. Well, having a look at the two cars instantly proves you the Germans were right but even so, the Greek court said the similarities are somehow understandable since we're talking about two cars in the same class.

Well, it is so difficult to create two different models belonging to the same class? We don't think so, Toyota did it with the iQ but it's probably easier to copy an existing model and offer it as a more affordable option to the same segment of buyers, this is surely a way to generate some quick cash...

Anyway, getting back to the court decision, according to a story by themotorreport.com.au, the judge ruled that it's perfectly normal to see a new model featuring similar features with an existing model. It said that "an informed buyer would not confuse the Noble with the smart fortwo", while the Chinese manufacturer insisted its model is not copying the smart in any aspect.

It seems we should start getting used with this kind of reports, as Chinese manufacturers are more and more attracted to models sold in Europe - and when we say attracted, we mean it in a chop shop style way.

Just take a look at the so-called Geely GE - which actually stands for Geely Experience as the parent company said - and you might had a feeling of deja-vu: it resembles the appearance of the popular Rolls Royce Phantom and, according to various media reports, it will hit the market at a price of around 30,000 pounds - about 220,000 pounds cheaper than with the original model...