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EDITORIAL JUST AUTO =====================================
The Chinese automakers’ propensity to ‘borrow’ designs from
others is pretty widespread. The practice slashes product
development costs and if the car is going to be on sale in
the domestic market only, the company that has had its
intellectual property raided will probably not want to
object too strongly.
Even if it does decide to do something about it, that
means negotiating the arcane Chinese legal system, which
will take time and might not yield a meaningful result
anyway. It could also cause political difficulties and many
firms, understandably, decide on a do nothing strategy.
Just how widespread is the practice of duplicating foreign
firms’ designs and technology in China’s auto industry?
That’s hard to say as there will also be IPR infringements
under the skin that are more difficult to see than the
vehicle body-shell examples of the practice.
However, Western manufacturers might be hoping that the
Chinese copycat modus operandi will eventually give way to
genuine indigenous innovation. The expectation is that as
the Chinese automakers develop, they will increasingly look
to design and engineer their own vehicles (or get a foreign
design house to do it for them, as is already happening in
some cases), especially with an eye on higher export
volumes. The more blatant rip-offs will gradually disappear,
the thinking goes, as the Chinese auto industry grows in
global terms.
But that will be a long process and I suspect that there
will always be some divergence between Western firms and
Chinese ones in terms of attitudes to intellectual property
rights. It’s partly a cultural thing.
When visiting China a fun game to play is spotting the
copies. Sometimes they are ‘Frankencars’ that pay tribute to
Chinese reverse engineering capabilities coupled to an
improvisation or make-do mentality. You can imagine the
conversations that go on in the product engineering
departments. “The full Honda CR-V two-way tailgate is just
too expensive for us to make – let’s re-do the whole rear
end from the B-pillar back…. isn’t there an old Kia truck
with very similar proportions? Check the backlist.
Cut’n’shut.”
My attention was drawn to another vehicle doppelganger
last week. I don’t know how well the (Toyota owned) Scion xB
is doing in California, but it always struck me as a strange
looker, more like a domestic appliance than a car. However,
its boxy appearance is very, very distinctive. Copying that
model isn’t exactly a discreet move that would keep the
copying under the radar. It’s right in Toyota’s face and
begs the question: what will Toyota do about it, if
anything? The Great Wall Coolbear looks like a pretty
straightforward rip-off.
What a splendid name for a vehicle though. You can see the
Coolbear in all its glory in the image gallery accompanying
this article – another ‘Bursa special’ (and I might just
start calling him Coolbear – not that he’s a copy, that
lad’s a definite one-off).
Until next time...
Dave Leggett, Managing Editor
The Chinese automakers’ propensity to ‘borrow’ designs from
others is pretty widespread. The practice slashes product
development costs and if the car is going to be on sale in
the domestic market only, the company that has had its
intellectual property raided will probably not want to
object too strongly.
Even if it does decide to do something about it, that
means negotiating the arcane Chinese legal system, which
will take time and might not yield a meaningful result
anyway. It could also cause political difficulties and many
firms, understandably, decide on a do nothing strategy.
Just how widespread is the practice of duplicating foreign
firms’ designs and technology in China’s auto industry?
That’s hard to say as there will also be IPR infringements
under the skin that are more difficult to see than the
vehicle body-shell examples of the practice.
However, Western manufacturers might be hoping that the
Chinese copycat modus operandi will eventually give way to
genuine indigenous innovation. The expectation is that as
the Chinese automakers develop, they will increasingly look
to design and engineer their own vehicles (or get a foreign
design house to do it for them, as is already happening in
some cases), especially with an eye on higher export
volumes. The more blatant rip-offs will gradually disappear,
the thinking goes, as the Chinese auto industry grows in
global terms.
But that will be a long process and I suspect that there
will always be some divergence between Western firms and
Chinese ones in terms of attitudes to intellectual property
rights. It’s partly a cultural thing.
When visiting China a fun game to play is spotting the
copies. Sometimes they are ‘Frankencars’ that pay tribute to
Chinese reverse engineering capabilities coupled to an
improvisation or make-do mentality. You can imagine the
conversations that go on in the product engineering
departments. “The full Honda CR-V two-way tailgate is just
too expensive for us to make – let’s re-do the whole rear
end from the B-pillar back…. isn’t there an old Kia truck
with very similar proportions? Check the backlist.
Cut’n’shut.”
My attention was drawn to another vehicle doppelganger
last week. I don’t know how well the (Toyota owned) Scion xB
is doing in California, but it always struck me as a strange
looker, more like a domestic appliance than a car. However,
its boxy appearance is very, very distinctive. Copying that
model isn’t exactly a discreet move that would keep the
copying under the radar. It’s right in Toyota’s face and
begs the question: what will Toyota do about it, if
anything? The Great Wall Coolbear looks like a pretty
straightforward rip-off.
What a splendid name for a vehicle though. You can see the
Coolbear in all its glory in the image gallery accompanying
this article – another ‘Bursa special’ (and I might just
start calling him Coolbear – not that he’s a copy, that
lad’s a definite one-off).
Until next time...
Dave Leggett, Managing Editor
