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09-02-2007, 04:25 PM | #1 |
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Europe To Get Smart Clone Despite Legal Threats
The Chinese built Smart Fortwo replica, Shuanghuan’s Noble minicar, will go on sale in Europe despite threats of legal action from Mercedes-Benz. Officials from Mercedes have threatened the European importer of the Chinese vehicles, Martin Motors, who says the cars will still go on sale as scheduled following a possible launch at next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show. The car is still awaiting EU safety and emission approval. The CEO of Martin Motors Guido Martinelli told reporters from Automotive News Europe that Mercedes’ legal team had already sent a letter of complaint to the car’s German importer, China Automobiles Deutschland. “After a preliminary hearing between our lawyers and those from our German distributor, we see no evidence in Mercedes claims. We plan to show the Noble at the IAA in Frankfurt,” he said.
Mercedes is not the only company threatening Martin Motors because of the cloned car. Even the organizer of the Frankfurt Show has warned that it may have to take action if the suspect car infringed intellectual property rights. As for Shuanghuan’s BMW X5 clone, the CEO SUV, Martinelli revealed that BMW hasn’t contacted it or the German importer and the car will continuing being sold in Europe as planned. http://www.motorauthority.com/
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09-02-2007, 06:40 PM | #2 |
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im awaiting the crash test pictures where this thing crumples like a soda can.
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09-02-2007, 07:26 PM | #3 |
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I love how we (the US and Europe) are doing business with a country that has absolutely no respect for Intellectual Property laws and has no problem copying everything and everything. Well no wonder the Chinese can build things so incredibly cheaply - all their engineering and designing work is done and paid for by the companies that they copy.
And I see no end in site with this issue since no one (most definitely not our incompetent administration) is willing to put their foot down and demand they stop... less we stop getting access to ultra-cheap labor. I am curious at what point is Chrysler going to regret partnering with a Chinese firm to build their next-gen small cars... especially since all the engineering work done by Chrysler is just gonna get ripped off and used on low-cost Chinese knock-offs. |
09-02-2007, 07:59 PM | #4 |
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idk about these chinese copies. i mean, on simple stuff like intakes, headers, and exhausts, they arent that bad. but a whole car? man, idk. i probably wouldnt buy one just because of the badge, though.
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09-02-2007, 10:43 PM | #5 | |
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Quote:
What's the problem? That's Chryslers to plan to be able to increase quality |
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09-02-2007, 10:57 PM | #6 |
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I don't see what the big deal is. These replica cars are crap and only the cheapest of the cheap would buy them, right? Let the consumer's money do the talking.
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09-02-2007, 11:01 PM | #7 |
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It becomes a problem when allowing these products to be sold puts people in danger. Just look at all the recalls that are going on with Chinese produced goods.
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09-03-2007, 01:38 PM | #8 | |
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09-03-2007, 04:05 PM | #9 |
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09-04-2007, 03:15 PM | #10 |
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They really just copy the sheetmetal don't they? The interiors are low rent (think early 90's Subaru/Honda) and the engines/drivetrain are crap...
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09-04-2007, 03:23 PM | #11 |
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09-04-2007, 03:33 PM | #12 | |
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Quote:
The crash test results remain to be seen, but Shuanghuan must think the Noble can meet EU crash safety standards or that the company can buy off the right people, which is how they would get to market in China. The problem with saying that the car "puts people in danger" is that whether true or not, it smacks of the exactly the kind of propaganda that the European automakers would put out, if they have not already. |
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09-04-2007, 03:51 PM | #13 |
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The big deal is that the Chinese seem to be perfectly ok with stealing. The quality on some Chinese rip offs is improving to the point where it may impact the sales of the company that paid for the R&D.
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09-04-2007, 04:01 PM | #14 |
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who would even buy an original one of those things?
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09-04-2007, 04:47 PM | #15 |
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we all know the chinese have huge population so they careless about ppl gettting crashed in an accident but please dont send the car to a differnt region to ruine other ppl's life
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