For the last century, China has been the leading front for the war on counterfeit products. Most people are familiar with the battles music and movie companies have had to fight in China, but a new front on the war is beginning to rear its ugly head and it has US and European automakers in a tizzy. Chinese copies of western automobiles are going from being a rare sighting to an every day occurrence. The main stream media has yet to catch onto the story, but many autophiles have been squawking about it for years, and it appears that folks in Detroit are beginning to pay attention.
Recent reports of certain automakers in China outright copying the look of Western cars have been met by a flurry of lawsuits. Chinese automakers like Shuanghuan Auto are accused of copying cars like the BMW X5, while Hongqi’s limousine bears a striking resemblance to the Lincoln Town Car. In some comparison pictures, you can’t even tell the original from the copy, as in the case of the SMA Shanghai Maple and the Audi S4 Cabrio.
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