well their so called COPIED cars are doing well in china , heck they are doing great in third world countries as well , I've asked zillions of people who bought a very popular chery model here , the Chery A11 / Windcloud ( Seat Toledo 94 I believe , chery claims it bought the blue prints outta some mexican factory , I dont know the case )WuzhengNA said:
This was part of a Survey I was doing for a local car magazine , I asked the 13 people who bought the Chery A11 ( And has been with them for over 12 months now )
The following
Q1 .Did you know before you buy your car , that this particular model is a Replica/Legal Replica ( undecided ) of a Seat Toledo 94 ?
2 of the 14 Knew , 2 Never even saw the 1994 Toledo , and the rest do know the Toledo but they didn't note the difference until someone suggested .
after this question , 4 of them actually felt happy knowing their car is based on a STRONG ( quoted from them ) car as the Seat Toledo !
Q2 . What was the reason beyond this purchase of a new untested , unknown Brand ?
5 out of thirteen went for the Price / Features ( this is one of the very very few cars that has 2 airbags / abs with ebd systems installed - it costs arround $10,000 here ) .
the others stated that they thought the car MATERIALS especially the outer body stronger than most other Hyundais , Daewoos and Kias .
Q3 . Is this your first car ?
2 of 13 were first buyers , infact they were only 24 years old .
3 Owned A 1999 Daewoo Lanos ( Still being assembled here btw ) and they actualy hated it .
1 Owned a Subaru Impreza .
2 1996 Toyota Corollas
the rest had Fiats and Excels .
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Apparently people here are not very well educated about Car Markets and Car Brands , what sells for them is a good combination of features / value and warranty ( Chery sells here with a 3 years - 60,000 kM - just like Hyundai and toyota here ) .
So For third world countries , I don't see a reason why Chinese need original designs , but I must add that
the Latest cherys offering the Chery A5 , which is I think is their Original design along with their Original Engine .. is selling very very good here .
Branded as a new Speranza A516 with a 1.6 ACTECO Engine producing 117HP at 5,500 RPM ( Elantras and Corolas are also offered with a 1.6 engine )
with Front Airbags - ABS .- ebd - Some nice nifty features that are not even OPTIONAL in the Japanese and Korean brand and it sells for almost 50% less ( $11,500 ) - the cheapest Corolla here is for $17 - Elantra 1.6 $15 .
Please excuse my English / Grammar mistakes ,I hoped I helped deliver a picture from our side here .