Mitsubishi made the Japanese Zero.
Posted on 11/21/2014 10:23:57 AM PST by smokingfrog
Land Rover just launched their Chinese-built Evoque at the Guangzhou Auto Show, while a few feet away, copycat LandWind X7 offered the same design at quarter of the price.
AWKWARD!!
This Is Not A Range Rover Evoque - But rather its Chinese cousin, the Landwind X7
Understandably, JLR is about to file a complaint to Chinese officials now regarding IP theft. I say good luck with that, but one can sure feel bad for Jaguar Land Rover. They put their money in a joint venture with Chinese manufacturer Chery to start the Evoque's local production, and this is what they got in return. A cheap copycat powered by a Mitsubishi engine.
Land Rover chief executive officer Dr Ralf Speth had this to say to Autocar about the X7:
The fact that this kind of copying is ongoing in China is very disappointing. The simple principal is that it is not something that should happen; the Intellectual Property is owned by Jaguar Land Rover and if you break that IP then you are in breach of international regulations that apply around the world.
(Excerpt) Read more at jalopnik.com ...
Sow the wind, reap the Land Wind.
Mitsubishi made the Japanese Zero.
Been going on for a thousand years. Where have they been?.................
I do not feel sorry for Land Rover in the least. They made a deal with the devil and now there’s Hell to pay. They deserve it and so does anyone else who does business with a nation of thieves.
And what a lovely kite she was.
Back in the late ‘70s I worked as a line mechanic at a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership. I went to overhaul an automatic transmission from a Mitsubishi pickup truck. Got it on the hoist, and saw—on the outside at least—it looked like Mopar’s A904 Torqueflite. Upon disassembly, to everybody’s curiosity, it was a 2/3-sized replica. Bet Mitsubishi at least paid the license fee.
The only problem is ,you can’t get the Chinese version wet
In before the first “Lange Lover” joke.
You want see my new Rand Lover?
The Chinese auto industry will never be taken seriously as long as they keep turning out cheap knockoffs of Western automobiles.
OTOH, it seems this is just what communist countries do. See also Lada, Zastava, et al.
15 seconds, Dave. Damn you!
Mitsubishi made the Japanese Zero.
And borrowed from a Howard Hughes design...
Quite right.
One of the unique features of Chinese society throughout history is that merchants and businessmen were very low on the social status totem pole. They were subject to routine expropriation by the state or local mandarins, more or less at their whim.
Chinese businessmen always were viewed by others, and by themselves, as almost semi-criminal. They responded by developing semi-criminal ways of defending themselves against expropriation and abuse. There’s always been a lot more overlap between legitimate business and organized crime among the Chinese than among most cultures, even the Sicilians.
Those who plan to do business with Chinese suppliers had better bring a pretty long spoon.
lol
Given that Chery ripped off the Daewoo Matiz (aka Chevrolet Spark) to produce its Chery QQ, Tata (Land Rover’s Indian owner) clearly entered this JV with its eyes open. The cars do not compete in any sense of the word, any more than fake Coach bags compete with the genuine ones. I’d say Tata entered the JV in order to get Chinese market access, as well as to ramp up Chinese operations quickly. After 2-1/2 years, the first Range Rovers have rolled off the JV’s production line. Tata has market access and is generating revenues from the Chinese market. From that perspective, Tata probably views the JV as a success.
Can’t put on a snorkel for a drive to Taiwan, then?
Impressive - original costs 63 grand and the Chinese version goes for 22 grand.
I didn’t know they could pull it off. I don’t need to look for loose change under my couch now to afford a luxury land rover.
Good analysis and analogy.
Range Rovers around here are driven by upscale gen X and baby boomers out to impress their neighbors.
They might buy the Chinese one for their teenage kids instead of a used Honda IF it was cheap enough.
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