I was reading the Globe Auto section from Thursday and came across a really interesting article. A few random car manufacturers from China (even I have never heard of) have stirred up some controversy in Europe lately concerning models that look identical to the likes of BMW's, Toyota's, Mercedes-Benz's and more. The image above compares a BMW X5 (right) to a Shuanghuan "CEO" (left). Look similar? Despite accusations of "blatant copying", only one car, the Shuanghuan Noble, was kicked out of the Frankfurt Motor Show for looking identical to the Smart car.
But the fun doesn't stop there. They're also cheaper...WAY cheaper. A BMW X5 starts at somewhere in the neighborhood of $50,000-$60,000. The Shuanghuan won't even ask for half that for their CEO. Sounds great, right? Wrong! Wanna know why? Cheaper materials! Check out the Chery Amulet crash-test on YouTube (Another Chinese American/European replica). The thing practically disintegrates. I would never be caught dead in one of these things.
This new trend of knock-off cars has already hit Europe, and will soon be introduced in Canada. Watch out...
But the fun doesn't stop there. They're also cheaper...WAY cheaper. A BMW X5 starts at somewhere in the neighborhood of $50,000-$60,000. The Shuanghuan won't even ask for half that for their CEO. Sounds great, right? Wrong! Wanna know why? Cheaper materials! Check out the Chery Amulet crash-test on YouTube (Another Chinese American/European replica). The thing practically disintegrates. I would never be caught dead in one of these things.
This new trend of knock-off cars has already hit Europe, and will soon be introduced in Canada. Watch out...
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