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Dutsch company Het Franse AZ Motors made a deal to import Shuanghuan Sceo in Netherlands, Belgium and France. The base price will be 30.000 EUR.

http://www.autoweek.nl/newsdisp.php?ID=6803

 

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Shuanghuan came to Slovenia!

Slovenian distributor Avto Azija started selling Shuanghuan CEO in Slovenia. It is available with 2351 ccm Mitsubishi gasoline engine with 92 kW (126 HP) which allows the SUV to reach 165 km/h max speed. Information about accelerations is not available.
The car is very well equiped. Standard equimpment includes among other things automatic AC, rear park sensors, CD and DVD audio player, 17'' alloy wheels and leather seats. Electric adjustable front seats cost extra 420 EUR and for automatic transmission one has to add 1.850 EUR.
Basic price for CEO is 25.890 but the company offers starting discount of 1.500 EUR. They hope to sell 40 to 50 vehicles in Slovenia this year and also plan do export cars to other former Yugoslav markets except Macedonia.

source: Delo.si

 

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The court in Germany halted import of Sceo SUV to Germany. Because of too obvious similiarities in design between Chinese and previous generation BMW X5.

http://es.autoblog.com/2008/06/27/shuanghuan-no-puede-vender-el-ceo-en-alemania/

Translation in English by Google Translate,

After several attempts by BMW to halt the arrival of Shuanghuan CEO, finally a German court has given them reason and importer of Chinese vehicles, China Automobile Deutschland will be left to market a copy of the X5.
The judge has reported that the stylistic similarities between the previous generation of X5 and the CEO are close enough to think that in developing the Chinese model has been used in the German account too.
Now that BMW has achieved success in Germany also intends to take legal action in Italy, another of the countries in which the CEO is marketed. What was not said is what will happen to Greece, is already on sale for some time.

 

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Shuanghuan backs German dealers going to appeal.

July 11, 2008 - "Shuanghuan will not slow the exports to Europe no matter how the final result is," said Zhang Rui, information center manager of Shuanghuan Auto, to the reporters of National Business Daily in an interview.

On June 26, the CEO SUV model made by Chinese automaker Shuanghuan Automobile Co. was banned from German sales by a Munich court of Germany. The court ruled that Shuanghuan's CEO infringes BMW's X5 design copyrights.

Shuanghuan's German importer China Automobile Deutschland denied that the CEO model copies BMW's design and planned to appeal against the court ruling. Shuanghuan Auto showed strong support for this appeal. "We definitely support our dealers if they appeal against the court ruling," the Chinese carmaker announced.

According to Zhang Rui, CEO exports to Germany haven't been affected. The company has exported over 1,000 Shuanghuan CEOs to Italy, part of which will sell in Germany. But he declined to disclose the exact figures for Germany exports. Over 5,000 CEO SUVs will be delivered to Europe this year, he added.

It is reported that the CEO sells for about 26,000 euros, half of BMW X5's price in Germany, and thus is accused of hampering sales of BMW X5 in its home market.

source: Gasgoo.com

 

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Shuanghuan to sell CEO in France.

September 30, 2008 (gasgoo) - Last June, we reported on a German court's decision to ban the sales of a Chinese made BMW X5 knockoff called the CEO by China Automobile Deutschland. Despite the rocky European introduction, the SUV's builders, Shuanghuan, have pressed on and have introduced the car in Italy where 90 units were sold in the first 8 months of sale. Most recently, China Automobile, the car's authorized European distributor, is looking to France for further growth and will debut the CEO, along with some other controversial Chinese built automobiles in the country, by as early as spring 2009.

According to China Automobiles France marketing director Benoit Chambon, the CEO will be positioned as a cost-effective alternative to more expensive premium SUVs. Base prices are expected to be around 25,900 euro or $37,500. Key to the CEO's success in France is the planned establishment of a 100 dealership network by 2010. Chambon claims his distribution company already has 30 signed contracts with interested dealers.

Joining the CEO in France will be the Zhejiang Jonway UFO compact SUV. The car's design takes much inspiration from the first generation Toyota RAV4 small car. More information surrounding the UFO and what exact plans China Automobile France has in store for the pair of SUVs is expected during the Paris Motor Show later this week. Currently, there has been no indication the cars will be sold stateside, but given other Chinese automaker's previous failed attempts, we're not holding out breath.

 

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Shuanghuan launches CEO SUV in France:
http://es.autoblog.com/2008/10/08/shuanghuan-lanza-el-ceo-en-francia/

During these days China Automobile France begins marketing the all-terrain CEO in France, after his national debut at the Salon de l'Automobile in Paris. The clone of the BMW X5 was bid at the moment only with a gasoline engine.

CEO of recommended prices range from 25,900 and 27,900 € and are planning to sell about 3,000 units during 2009. To do so later this year should be open 40 dealerships throughout the country. We do not know the success that will have the new CEO but seeing that other manufacturers are bidding very interesting, it seems somewhat excessive estimating sales.

The gasoline engine is a 2.4 liter with 135 hp which is capable of reaching 160 km / h. The average consumption is 7.8 L/100, with an emission level of 199 g / km of CO2-very optimistic indeed. For the Spanish market at the moment there is no official distributor of Shuanghuan.

 

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After Slovenia, Shuanghuan enters other Republics of former Yugoslavia. Serbian company Progres became the official importer of Shuanghuan vehicles for Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Hercegovina. For the beginning they will offer much publicized SUV CEO. The price of the car will be between 22.900 and 24.900 EUR. The Serbian company hopes to sell 290 vehicles in 2009.

http://auto.blog.co.yu/blog/auto/do...dski-progres-prodaje-kineski-schuanghuan-sceo

 

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BMW loses Clonewars Italian court battle.

Take a close look at the image. A court in Italy has just ruled that the crossover pictured above, the five-seat CEO built by Shuanghuan Automobile of Shijiazhuang, China, is not a clone of the BMW X5. Um... yeah. The legal battles began when Shuanghuan introduced their "Noble" last year, a near-clone of the Smart fortwo. Mercedes-Benz wasn't impressed, and threatened a lawsuit. Shortly thereafter, BMW started losing sleep over the Chinese CEO, an obvious facsimile of their previous-generation X5 (E53). The Bavarian automaker took Shuanghuan to court in Munich this past summer and won their case, and when Martin Motors (the distributor of Shuanghuan Automobiles in Italy and central Europe) started selling the CEO in early 2007, BMW again took legal action, this time in the Italian judicial system.

Last week, the Germans met their defeat when the Italian courts rejected their claims. To date, Martin Motors has sold about 200 copies of the CEO and expects to sell about 1200 this year in their European markets. "We are convinced the CEO wasn't a clone of the X5. We are happy to see our view supported by a court ruling," said an obviously pleased spokesperson from Martin Motors. We have to wonder how quickly the Italians would change their tune if Shuanghuan began to knock-off the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4.

source:
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/12/19/bmw-loses-clonewars-italian-court-battle/

 

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China Automobile Deutschland declares bankruptcy!

China Automobile Deutschland is to bankrupt

07/17/2009
China Automobile Deutschland (CAD) is to bankrupt – according to German auto-reporter.net. The phone in the company is off, and the official website disappeared. Tatiana Podkatilow, ex marketing chief admits, that low demand was one of the most important reason of such decision. Though, that there are still some cars left, tribunal in Munich affirmed bankruptcy of CAD.

The crucial moment was the lost process with BMW, in effect of which importer bound to destroy off-road X5 copy and paying additional penalty. Though many announcements, in CAD’s offer there were only two models - Shuanghuan CEO (around 26,000 EUR) and not less controversial Jonway UFO (15,990 EUR).

It is worth to add, that the French company’s department is still running, but under changed address: http://www.wix.com/china33/home.

source: autochiny.pl