Posted on 08/28/2007 11:27:43 AM PDT by LibWhacker
BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer is not happy. In a case which proves that nothing is immune to the sleight of hand of Chinese manufacturers and their ability and willingness to clone any product on earth, BMW has been forced to threaten legal action over a cheap knock-off version of their popular X5 SUV.
The Chinese-made SUV which ironically enough is called CEO is almost identical in appearance to BMW’s X5…especially from the rear.
“We have already taken steps against the marketing of the CEO (SUV) in Europe. Should this car be presented at the IAA, we will look into taking further legal steps,” a BMW spokesman said.
Forbes reports that Karl Schloessl, the owner of independent importer China Automobile Deutschland said he knew nothing of the legal action, but said it might well help sales of the model.Schloessl said he is planning to sell the cars at around 100 dealerships in Germany starting in October…again proving there is no shame among the Chinese or the vendors who get rich selling their knock-off merchandise.
The BMW X5 is pictured on the left and the Chinese CEO SUV is on the right.
ROTFL ... I’m pretty sure Chinese cars crappy quality and materials - regardless of style cue thefts - are going to be easily differentiated from BMW.
Both of them look like station wagons. Not exactly a new design concept.
“What’s the difference between a BMW and a porcupine....”
Looks isn’t ervything....
Hey....just free trade, right?
What’s wrong with that?
The Orientals’ lack of creativity rears its head yet again...
Man, when a 60s/70s era Vet or Mustang or Camero or Duster came down the road you knew what it was.
Now most is mush.
They don’t look any more alike that any other two SUVs in that size range. Different bumper, license plate moved, tailights different, different shape to rear quarter window, different look for the cyclops light; BMW is making a mistake trying to link the two.
Old joke here in La La Land!
Lead based paint and parts small enough for a toddler to swallow?
Those imitative commies! They should call it the Tu-4, in honor of the Ruuskie knockoff of the B-29
I’m no expert on Chinese culture, but it seems that this is a value that they hold dear - copying success.
Painters are not allowed to paint their own stuff until they can copy the “masters” perfectly first.
We just can’t fathom this idea - we value our intellectual property too much.
Eat your heart out, xcamel!
“I think every since the 80s most cars have been “mind melding” into look-a-likes.”
A guy I worked with said all new cars looked like a used bar of soap.
and this is different from the Porshe?
and this is differnet from the Buick?
and this is different from the Subaru?
geeze, car makers have been making unispired “same as” design poop since the 1974.
Inspired design is the exception NOT the rule.
They won’t be that hard to tell apart. If you push the palm of your hand against the Chinese version, it will leave a mark just like those miracle foam mattresses.
The same as the difference between a BMW and Hillary.
Licncoln town car, the melted marshmallow of design.
Too a beautiful land yatch and as if they gave it to the woman who killed oldmobile to fix it...
They don’t look alike to me, and anybody who can’t tell a Beemer from Chinese junk deserves what they get.
LOL ... well, as just one example - the ChiComms have been trying to manufacture an AK47 knockoff for decades, and to this very day, it's still crap and likely to be that way for the foreseeable future.
They all look like bars of soap with wheels to me.
They copy everything and when they don’t have ever clear they use antifreeze, and human waste for fertilizer.
Exactly.
Do a google images search of Kia SUV. Or Hyundai SUV.
Those South Korean SUV’s are knock-off, too.
You could not be more hopelessly wrong.
The dominant design cue on the BMW X series SUVs is the stong concave curve just under the rear window. This is unique to BMW, and strongly diffentiates them from other manufacturers.
The copying of this design cue, along with the very similar taillight treatment, glass shape and rear bumper make it abundantly clear that CEO is knocking off the BMW design.
Wait, that's not it. Uh, the pricks would rather drive a p.o.s. pickup truck with a picture of Calvin peeing on a Ford or Chevy logo in the back window, and chew tobacco and spit into an empty beer can while they're driving over to pick up their cousin for a "date"?
No, that's not it either...
If a Western comapny knocked off anything the ChiComs made they would sue, and win, we in the West do nothing.
We in the West are indeed “stuck on stupid”.
What’s the big deal now. The Japaneses have been doing this for years.
If it offends the rednecks and the metrosexuals equally, it may be worth the entertainment value to buy one!
Just saying.
Parts will start breaking off after a few uses like most of the chinese crap I have.
Let’s just hope those parts that break off don’t poison our dogs.
IIRC, they copied it so thoroughly, that there was even a “Boeing” emblem on the control wheel ;)
“What’s the difference between a BMW and a porcupine....”
Oldie but a goody. :) Oh, how I do love the M3, though.
a taurus looks like a bar of dove soap, maybe sweetheart soap from the vermont country store catalog
They both look like every other nondescript car on the road these days.
“Um, the pricks make jokes about the people who drive them?”
Come now, it’s a funny joke. Some of the biggest jerks I have ever met drove Corvettes. That said, I’d have one in a second. I laugh at that old joke but if I had the jack for an M3, I’d buy one tomorrow.
Check my name and just guess how many auto-related jabs I take. I don’t take them seriously and neither should you.
pro’lly needs leaded gas.
can’t say station wagon, crossovers don’t you know. My neighbor really got tight when I saw her car and said nice station wagon.
No worries.
Anyway, you have my condolences on the whole Fiero thing!
Well I wouldn't...but some things do.
“a taurus looks like a bar of dove soap”
A Taurus is the perfect bar of used soap.
“What’s the difference between a BMW and a porcupine....”
LOL. I thought it was a Porsche and a porcupine....
“The bitterness of low quality remains long after
the sweetness if low price has been forgotten.”
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