Worst Chinese Knockoff Cars

- It is common knowledge that copyright and patent laws in China are extremely lax. In the automobile industry, this makes it very easy to copy car designs because it is almost impossible for automakers outside the country to file any type of infringement before a Chinese court. Coupled with the fact that some of the originals they are copying are very expensive, people are happily paying for some convincing knock-off

cars

which makes notorious copycat companies even more likely to copy designs. Let's discover 20 of the

worst

and most shameless Chinese clones that are so ridiculous they will make you sad and amuse at the same time. (upbeat music) Number 20, Huansu c60 Hyosow.

There is no doubt that the Lamborghini Urus is a dream car. It is the world's first super sports utility vehicle that combines luxury, sportiness and performance with comfort and versatility. Unfortunately, at a price of $200,000, this car is still a dream for most people. Therefore, it makes sense that several Chinese companies try to copy this model. Check out this Huansu Auto c60 Hyosow, suspiciously launched just a year after the Urus was introduced. You can definitely see similarities between the grille, headlights, and its sleek design. It's a mid-size crossover that recreates the Urus with some strategic tweaks to avoid lawsuits, and it's offered at 1/10 the price.

Number 19, Geely GE. Wow, is that a Rolls-Royce Phantom I see passing by? Well yes and no. At first glance, the Geely GE looks a lot like the Rolls-Royce Phantom, with massaging seats, a pure wool carpet and a display case contributing to its luxurious appearance. Geely claims to be reinventing the classic with its Geely GE, but the huge classic radiator, Phantom-like contours and Rolls-Royce's signature flying lady on the hood scream creating a clone. The GE even has a starlight headliner, which is a key feature of the original. So why spend $350,000 on the Phantom when you can step up to a Geely GE for just over $30,000?

Just don't expect the same attention to detail you'd get from a Rolls. Number 18, Suzhou Eagle Carrie. If you always thought it was difficult to choose between a Porsche and a Ferrari, then you should take a look at the Suzhou Eagle Carrie. It is an electric vehicle created by a company specializing in electric vehicles such as golf carts, and it is supposed to go from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in just 4.8 seconds. Car experts call this sports car a

knockoff

of the

worst

kind, as it appears to combine the front end of a Ferrari California with the headlights, body and rear end of a Porsche Cayman.

Even the Porsche and Eagle badges have unmistakable similarities in color and design. The model text on the back is also clearly written in the same font. Pricing information isn't available, but you can bet it's many factors less than a real Ferrari or Porsche. Number 17, Zotye SR9. The Zotye SR9, on the other hand, clearly draws inspiration solely from the Porsche Macan, being launched suspiciously two years later. The similarities are numerous, from the overall designs, proportions, bumper sides, door panels, roofline and even the mirrors. The main difference is the shape of the lights, grille and roof rails. Porsche wanted to sue, but Zotye didn't even care because they had already cloned several other high-end vehicles beforehand, so you can bet they'll show up again.

To their credit, they recently redesigned the SR9 with revised front and rear designs and a smaller engine. Well done Zotye, but at the end of the day, it's still a clear Macan clone at 1/5 the price. Number 16, Zotye Z700. Hey, that didn't take long! In 2015, Zotye launched a flagship sedan called the Z700, which was clearly influenced by the Audi A6L, except at 1/3 the price. While the dimensions are slightly different but extremely close, there is no doubt that the dashboard is an exact replica of the Audi A6L. You can judge for yourself. Number 15, K-One. K-One or K-Lone?

Due to its compact size, this car is basically a clone of the Mercedes-Benz GLA. It's a little smaller than the real GLA, but both weigh about 3,000 pounds and it's styled like the GLA with the shape of the headlights, radiator grille, etc. However, the K-One is fully electric, which shows that they took this copy too seriously because they left the exhaust outlets in the design. Number 14, Geely Merrie 300. In this case, it seems that Geely was too lazy to try to reinvent the classic, but just completely copied the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. They didn't even make the slightest adjustment. From the front, they look exactly the same, with the decorative emblem on the hood.

The Geely is simply a third of the price, but there are no quality guarantees. Number 13, Jonway UFO. Jonway Automobile probably should have reconsidered the title of this car because it is easily identified as a copy of the Toyota RAV4. It can be argued that an outdated design was used as it looked more like the second generation RAV4, but it is a clone anyway. While most clone

cars

are restricted to sales in China as they cannot be imported to other countries for obvious infringement reasons, Toyota apparently cannot stop UFO sales in Europe because it did not obtain patent protection for the design. in Europe.

The UFO is on sale with a starting price of around $18,000, while the RAV4 starts at over $31,000. However, the lower price alludes to many quality compromises. Number 12, Lifan 320. Chinese automaker Lifan Motors is also known for creating clones. They created the Lifan 320 that mainly copies the MINI Cooper with a touch of the Fiat 500L. Features such as the different colored roof, rounded headlights and dashboard are identical to those of the MINI Coop. It is known for being one of the least safe cars on the market, with a Latin NCAP rating of zero out of five stars. If you're not too concerned about the survival issue, you can pick up one of these for around $7,000, which is 1/4 the price of a MINI Cooper produced in the same year.

Number 11, Lifan Xuanlang minivan. It didn't take long for Lifan to reappear. This is a copy of the Ford S-Max. Lifan copied the overall design, the roof lines, the window lines, the front windshield, the shape of the third side window and the line above the doors. Of course, it is only a fraction of the price of its counterpart, but know that choosing between the clone and the real product could simply be a matter of death for Lifan. Number 10, Chery QQ. A few years after the launch of the Daewoo Matiz, the Chinese state-owned company Chery decided to produce its version of the car, but the result was not stellar.

The cars look almost exactly the same and many of their parts were interchangeable. The Chery QQ, which is about half the price of the Matiz, is said to be so small it looks like a lawnmower. Only 11.6 feet long, Chery still tried to equip the car with five doors to accommodate people in the back. Do you want to know which one is the not so Chery above? It does not have a radio or air conditioning. Number 9, Noble Shuanghuan. Perhaps one of the most blatant clones is the Shuanghuan Noble, which is a copy of the Smart Fortwo. Shuanghuan not only launched the Fortwo in 2007, but had the audacity to use the slogan "Smarter than the rest." That doesn't seem too noble to me.

The Noble had a price of between 8,880 and 11,800 euros compared to the Smart Fortwo, which started at 9,850 euros. Production of the Noble ended in 2013, but there are still sellers offering conversion kits. Number 8, BAIC BJ80. No, this is not the Mercedes G-Class but the BAIC BJ80. This copy is unmistakable due to its shape and the fact that both vehicles seem to be prepared to take on anything. In 2018, BAIC also launched a 6X6 version that channels AMG's G63 6X6 pickup truck. More recently, China's military named it the most reliable off-road vehicle, but this seems questionable since the AMG version has a twin-turbo V-8 power source, while the BJ80 has a 2.3-liter turbocharged inline-four.

In other words, it's 544 horsepower versus 250 horsepower. Of course, cost would have played a part, as the BJ80 is much cheaper than its counterpart. Number 7, Yogomo 330. The Yogomo 330 was announced very ceremoniously in 2015 but it's not like they went to great lengths to hide its resemblance to the Kia Picanto. Despite being slightly larger, the 330 is still a low-speed electric vehicle and the only difference with the Picanto is the grilles and its mirrors. You can get one in China for about $5,000, considerably less than the original South Korean stuff. Number 6, CH Auto Lithia. The Ch-Auto Lithia may not be an exact clone, but it was clearly inspired heavily by the Audi R8.

The front and rear of the Lithia are unique, but the side profile, side fins and roof design are definitely R8-style. The Lithia is all-electric and runs on a set of lithium-ion batteries that give it a driving range of approximately 100 miles. Compared to other clones, it is relatively expensive, over $115,000, which is more than 2/3 the price of an R8. Number 5, Lifan 330. So when you make a copy of a popular car and it has poor sales, you have to be inventive, give it a facelift and make it a better clone. Say hello to the Lifan 330, which is the new and improved Lifan 320 or the new and improved MINI Cooper clone.

This time they copied the dash and placed the digital speedometer in the middle of the tachometer, but the stereo was still round. The Lifan 330 came in three configurations: standard, luxury and flagship, with prices about 1/4 the cost of a real MINI Cooper at the time of its production. Despite the price savings, many Chinese consumers prefer to pay for quality as sales have fallen. It wasn't much better than the 320 in terms of safety, but it had a bit more standard safety equipment, which really makes you wonder about the 320. Number 4, Shanxi Victory Jinchi X1. It's safe to say that no rapper will be singing about this Cadillac anytime soon.

The Shanxi Victory Jinchi X1 is a terrible copy of the big Cadillac Escalade pickup truck. At first glance they look the same, but if you look closer, they couldn't be more different. The Escalade has a 6-liter V8 engine, while its Chinese copy has a modest 2-liter 4-cylinder engine. The interior is also disappointing. It doesn't offer the luxury of the Escalade, but is instead very boring and dominated by cheap-looking black plastics. Well, that escalated quickly. But to be fair, it's not unexpected, given that it's much cheaper. Number 3, Youxia Ranger The Youxia Ranger UM it's okay. The Ranger This company takes copying to another level by adding an operating system used by in-car infotainment services called Kitt.

Yes, like Kitt from the '80s TV show "Knight Rider." But the hardest part to believe is probably the price which starts at just over $30,000. Number 2, BYD S8 F8. In 2006, the BYD S8 was announced as the first Chinese hardtop convertible. However, it clearly wasn't the world's first as it looks strikingly similar to the Mercedes-Benz CLK with the headlights, grille and entire front end looking like they were taken straight from the CLK. However, they seemed to have got the proportions wrong, so it looks a bit awkward compared to the attractive CLK coupe. The main difference would be the prices, with the S8 being a fraction of the cost of a CLK at the time.

But of course, if you still can't afford any of the typically inexpensive commercially manufactured clones, you can also resort to building your own, which is why this homemade Lamborghini deserves an honorable mention on this list. Inspired by his love of cars and the fact that there were only 21 Lamborghini Reventons in the world, Wang Jian set out to build his own. Okay, so his model can't reach 220 miles per hour, but it cost him about $7,500 to build, which is nothing compared to the real model's $1 million-plus price tag. Unfortunately for Wang, he was denied a license to drive his creation on the road, so he would never be able to fulfill his dream of touring the streets with his masterpiece.

Number 1, Landwind X7. Let's say when the Landwind X7 was announced in 2017, it generated a lot of controversy, why? Because it looks like the Range Rover Evoque that was first produced a few years earlier. The identical design and paint are unquestionable, even the marking on the top of the hood is in the same position. There were only minor differences, such as the Landwind having a chrome strip over the grill andThe headlights seemed thicker. But let's face it, if the mark was hidden, it would be quite difficult to distinguish the original from the copy in a lineup. Both cars also have 2-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engines, but the Evoque has 237 horsepower compared to the Landwind's 190 horsepower.

Pricing for the Landwind starts around $19,600, which is a little more than 1/5 the price of the Evoque. While it's a shame that most of these cars have been blatantly ripped off, this brazen theft is barely stopping. Surprisingly, in March 2019, Beijing's Chaoyang District Court banned the Landwind and ordered its creator, Jiangling Motors, to immediately stop manufacturing it. This is the first case in which a Chinese court has sided with a foreign company in the auto industry, as China is beginning to crack down on intellectual property infringements in an effort to strengthen trade talks and American investment in China.

But do you think it's too little too late? Has China been exploiting foreign brands for too long or are you glad something is finally being done about it? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Thanks for watching. (upbeat music)