[Chinesecars]

There is nothing to talk about here. FAW refused to extend their joint venture contract with Mazda at the Hainan factory, and then the next day, FAW continues business as usual, building Mazda 323 albeit with a new FAW nameplate. In western countries where accepted laws apply, this could never happen. They are too incompetent to design their own good cars, so they have to steal the ability.


Mazda 323:
http://car.autohome.com.cn/pic/series-s675/47.html?pvareaid=100496

 

[Chinesecars]

This situation, regrettably, still occurs all the time in China’s car industry. One might wonder why FAW would risk canceling the joint venture and blatantly continuing production, stealing the production capability without even paying a license fee for each future 323 (excuse me -Haima Familiy II) car produced, considering that FAW and Mazda have their other joint venture building the Mazda6. It’s a mixture of politics and business in China. Mazda knew they couldn’t change the outcome, and still has a chance to profit in China at the Mazda6 joint venture, and with Changan. .

There are over 10 companies in China producing light trucks that appears to be Isuzu NPRs. Did they all pay license fees? No. Only one did. The others are all copies, so-called reverse-engineering. Great Wall’s Safe SUV looks like an early 90’s Toyota 4-Runner (not to mention their pickups), but the company never had any cooperation with Toyota. Only in China can companies get away with this. The cental and provincial governments protect the companies, because the companies create profit and necessary jobs. Compared to US and European car makers, the Japanese are less likely to complain, because as they are focused on the business aspect, they see the vast potential of the Chinese market, and are well aware of the anti-Japanese sentiment still strong among China’s people owing to World War II atrocities, such as the Nanjing massacre and germ warfare Unit 731.

 

[Chinesecars]

The H1 is not as it appears. The chassis is a copy of the Mazda 3. It was designed by a Chinese Shanghai-based engineering firm. (Like the BYD F3 is a Toyota Corolla copy). The article mentions that the body was designed in Italy, and the suspension tuned by Lotus. But things are not as they appear. The involvement of Studio Ideal and Lotus was VERY limited. One must understand that Chinese people would never buy a car that was declared to have been totally designed in China. The Chinese people, however discrete, are totally aware that Chinese design is horrible, which is why they only want to buy foreign brands in China. So FAW needs to market the car as Italian designed with Lotus engineering, even though these two companies has minimal involvement (because Chinese companies still can’t afford to go all the way). Otherwise, few people would take it seriously and buy it.