China is often called the ‘World’s Factory’ for its expansive manufacturing infrastructure that produces everything from the smallest transistors to gigantic industrial equipment. China’s automobile manufacturing industry is equally prodigious: according to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), the country produced 24 million vehicles from January to October 2023. It’s not just the number of vehicles produced but the speed at which new designs and models are launched. It appears that several Chinese manufacturers have taken the ‘don’t reinvent the wheel’ adage a bit too literally: a large number of new, supposedly indigenously designed, made-in-China cars are in-your-face renditions of popular vehicles produced by some of the most prominent names in the world. These imitations come in varying degrees — from a passing resemblance to outright clones!
You’ve seen a few of these ‘inspired’ cars in the first part of this story. That just scratched the surface — here’s a follow-up list of China-made automobiles that truly deserve a place in this rogues’ gallery. If you want to have fun, try a guessing game with your mates!
Lifan 320/330 (A la MINI Cooper)
The Lifan 320 was a five-door hatchback produced by the China-based Lifan Group from 2008 to 2018. It was rebadged as the Lifan Smily for a few international markets like Russia and Peru. The 320 is widely acknowledged as one of the most blatant examples of a Chinese knock-off automobile.
The fact that it was manufactured by the Lifan Group came as no surprise either: the manufacturer had already acquired notoriety for its ‘Hongda’ brand of two-wheelers (No prizes for guessing which brand those were inspired by). ‘Hongda’ became a big joke after Jeremy Clarkson and James May jested about it in the second episode of Top Gear Series 18. A successful lawsuit by Honda Motors ensued in 2004, and Lifan was ordered to cease selling motorcycles under the brand name. But you get the gist: here was a manufacturer who wasn’t squeamish about getting creative (with someone else’s creatives!)
As soon as it debuted at the 2008 Beijing Auto Show, the Lifan 320 was seen as a clear imitation of the first-generation MINI Cooper. It was not a passing resemblance either: the front and rear ends, as well as the side profile of the 320, were, well, almost identical in design (even though the proportions were slightly different). Not one to stop and rest on its laurels, Lifan went ahead and launched a more upmarket version of the 320 – the 330 facelift – in 2013. While the 330 carried a significantly higher price tag, the 320 stayed in the line-up. Its USP? The car cost one-sixth of the original MINI Cooper in China!
Controversy – was there one?
Well, yes and no. According to an Autocar UK report published in 2010, the folks at MINI did not seem particularly perturbed by the Lifan 320. Instead, they felt that the MINI Cooper served purely as a source of design inspiration for the 320, and the two cars featured distinctive designs. This was pretty much in line with Lifan’s arguments on the matter. At the time of the 320’s debut in 2008, the Chinese carmaker claimed that its car featured a five-door configuration instead of the MINI’s three-door layout (the five-door MINI debuted in 2014), which made it different from the MINI Cooper.
In 2010, Lifan launched the 320 in Brazil, and two years later, BMW dragged Lifan to court for unfair competition and copyright infringement. Even though Lifan stopped selling the 320 in Brazil in 2014, the official court ruling in favour of BMW came only in 2019. While the legal victory had no practical benefits for BMW (the 320 and 330 went out of production in 2018), it set a legal precedent and served as a warning for other Chinese firms indulging in similar practices.
Dongfeng EQ2050 (AM General Humvee Imitation)
The Dongfeng EQ2050 is a $93,000 Chinese-made armoured vehicle loosely based on the ubiquitous American-made Humvee, manufactured primarily for use by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The story behind the origins of the EQ2050 is quite interesting.
In 1988, AM General, makers of the Humvee, presented a demonstration of the vehicle to the PLA at the Beijing Defence Exhibition. At the time, the PLA did not express any interest, apparently, due to concerns about the vehicle’s bulky size and high maintenance costs. However, when the world saw the Humvee in action in Operation Desert Storm during the 1990-1991 Gulf War, the armoured vehicle garnered widespread acclaim for its abilities on the battlefield. Apparently, this event is said to have roused the PLA’s interest in having a similar vehicle in their military arsenal.
It is believed that during the 1990s, the Chinese petroleum industry managed to get its hands on a couple of units of the civilian version of the Humvee, the Hummer H1. You know how that story goes…the vehicles were presumably reverse-engineered because, by 2002, two Chinese replicas of the Humvee had been developed. Both prototypes – the aluminium-body Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) SFQ2040 and the steel-bodied Dongfeng EQ2050 – were based on the Hummer H1 chassis. While both vehicles featured subtle styling differences from the Humvee, their build and proportions were very similar to the Humvee.
Eventually, the EQ2050 became the PLA’s preferred candidate. It’s believed that 57 EQ2050s were sent for trials from 2004 to 2006, which took place in the Tibetan Plateau, Gobi Desert, and the northeastern parts of the Heilongjiang province.
Controversy – was there one?
Not really. It is claimed that the first 100 EQ2050s were manufactured with US-made parts. In fact, Dongfeng purchased the parts from AM General as the company did not have the inventory to fulfil the order. The Chinese government even made efforts to purchase licensing rights for the Cummins turbo diesel engine that propelled the EQ2050, which would have made Dongfeng’s creation that much more legitimate. By 2008 though, the EQ2050 was being produced almost entirely with locally-made parts. Later on, the PLA adopted a newer version of the EQ2050, dubbed the Dongfeng Menshi.
So, the Dongfeng EQ2050 is indeed a replica of the Humvee, but a legitimate one.
BYD S8 (Mercedes-Benz CLK and Renault Mégane CC Imitation)
Finally, how can we talk about Chinese knock-offs and not discuss BYD (Build Your Dreams) Auto? BYD Auto is a Chinese carmaker that has a chequered past when it comes to its passenger cars. Toyota, Buick, Daihatsu, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Subaru are just a few global brands whose designs BYD Auto has been openly accused of copying ever since it ventured into manufacturing cars in 2003.
Of all the BYD products, we think the S8 takes the cake in copying other manufacturers’ designs. First shown as a prototype (F8) at the 2006 Shanghai Motor Show, the two-door S8 convertible resembles a mutant with the front half of a Mercedes-Benz CLK mated to the rear half of a Renault Mégane CC. The imitation levels are astounding, especially when you notice the front & rear lights – inch-perfect replicas of the respective original vehicles! Fortunately, the S8 remained in production for only one year, and BYD managed to shift just 103 units. So technically, because it is so rare and such an odd combination of two completely unrelated vehicles, the S8 can go down in history as the ideal collector’s ‘comedy car’. But jokes aside, the S8 serves as a glaring example of this affliction that plagues China’s automobile manufacturing industry.
Controversy – was there one?
Our extensive research did not reveal any incident of Mercedes-Benz, or Renault, taking legal action against BYD for the S8’s alleged design infringement. On the contrary, in 2010, BYD Auto and Mercedes-Benz formed a 50-50 joint venture (JV) called Shenzen BYD Daimler New Technology to focus on the research and development of ‘new energy’ vehicles. The JV is more popular by the brand name ‘Denza.’ There are also reports that Mercedes might use BYD’s new ‘Blade’ Battery in its upcoming electric models from 2025. So, with this level of collaboration, we doubt if Mercedes holds anything against BYD for the S8 debacle…