I thought we already had done that and called it the Buick Park Avenue! Chinese VE with local styling content by our old chums over in PATAC.

Buick Park Avenue is a more luxurious model, equivilent to the Statesman. the SS is more mid-tier

LOL, I think we can see how much of a cash cow Holden is to GM now. $20,000 cheaper is not fair, think how many more they would sell in Au if they sold them at that price? (which they never would). Gives you another option later if you stay in Shanghai…
I heard the new Camaro is going to NZ, not sure about Au.. It will be badged as a Chevy there… don’t quote me though.

woxihuanpijiu you have got to be kidding me, look at the side-by-side comparisons between the F1 and the Aygo and you can see that they are almost mirror images of each other… come on, other automotive blogs have titles like “BYD to build world’s most expensive Photochop cheapest car at $3,000″

it’s ridiculous to actually try to legitimatize this company by writing statements like, “Looks like BYD are going to make a good effort to compete in the mini car market” when they’re copying Toyota’s designs… and plus China’s regulatory framework is structured so that copyright and intellectual property are almost irrelevant considering most multi-national corporations need the government ‘on their side’ to gain access to the 1+ billion in China

do you actually believe that this company is legitimate?

he’s back…..rofl

Actually that is not a surprise! We have been talking for a while about how chinese companies copy without any shame, I have to agree with Wojtek and Jae, any argument to try to legitimatize this company and any copied product would be the real useless comment.

Woxihuanpijiu I know you always try to stand for the chinese made products but you have to face the fact that this kind of copies are a lack of respect to the industry, costumer, designers and even more the same company. The chinese companies have to learn to create their own products and stop bad-copying others, and here Im not just talking about car. Im talking about everything from textiles until heavy duty machinery chinese companies copy everything, and thers is no excuse for that, that is a crime, is punishable.

I was going to post a really nasty reply but figure it’s not in the interest of the site…however for all things copied you can direct your comments to these people and they might help you. http://english.ipr.gov.cn/en/services/copyright/LAC.shtml
Jae, to answer your questions… yes and yes.

To mundosanto, i hate to admit it but i am a law student, and everytime some one tells me its a crime i think to my self does this person know what he or she is talking about? or are they simply making a general statement of how they’d like to see the law to be. First of all, I do not know where you come from, but the IP laws of the PRC may different very much so from what your country has in place. Indeed the PRC has an adequate IP policy, at least on paper. The fact that all these alleged infringements by car dealers, or indeed other manufacturers are not taken to court does not mean that the legal system is at fault. And if the copyright owner does not choose to take up their right in a court of law then that too is not exceusable dont you think, if their negate their right? Secondly, IP infringements in China and indeed in most common law countries are civil offences. So in that case it is not a crime per se, it is not subject to state prosecution and to that effect it is not punishable, again, per se. So really, the burden is left to the copyright owners, it is their duty to bring the matter to court and prove their case. It is like that around the world, and China is no different.
Thirdly, given your convictions and how strong you feel about the issue, it might be worth your while researching about the IP abuses in China. Yes, you will find that many products are knock-offs, that being, attemepted copies assuming the original products design and brand, most noticably in clothing. But a vast majority of higher tech products are not like that. Most make substantial design modifications, upgrades and asethetical changes which in law render them different products. The case required to prove an actual infringment of IP rights, for exmaple of a car will include any patented designs or materials, as well as the copyright on the original drawn desgins of the car are vastly which will be hard to establish, given that these tests operate on the basis of ‘substantial similarity’ and being able to establish ‘prior knowledge’ and a causal link. Having said that, can you be so absolutely convinced that based on a photograph that the vehicle is a copy? Do they share the same engine? drive train? suspension? interior desigs? length? width? materials used? targeted market? original conception date? and the list goes on. All of these factors will need to be assessed to gain a complete picture of the alleged copy. I think that it will be impoissible to pass judgement simply by looking at a picture. Perhaps the car being Chinese already made the decision for you? What I am saying is that its simple for your to make allegations, but they have to be substantive. The fact that very few of these cases, in China at least, goes to court is a testament to the inability of manufacturers to relieve thier burden of proving such an overwhelming case. If there is a breach, we shall let a court be the judge of that. In the meantime the prejudice directed towards BYD or other Chinese car markers are simply weak opinions at best.
And lastly, you must understand that copying has been apart of technological developement of a country’s industries for many decades, it was prevalent the time after in the late 19th and early 20th century for the US to copy european designs, then after WWII for the japanese and koreans to copy US designs. It has a part to play in innovation as it often leads to lower costs of production and competition. Perhaps the most important thing is that this phenonmenon exists because there is market demand for it. So before you shift all blame and burden on Chinese manufactuers, perhaps fix this demand issue as I can gaurantee you its not restricted to China.

P.S I am eagerly waiting for a test case in a common law jurisdiction.

woxihuanpijiu I dont see why you feel offended Im sure is not in the spirit of nobody here to attack you, so nasty comments or arcasm are way out of the line. Anyway thanks for the informaton about the intelectual porperty protection, since Im not the owner of the rights for this design I have nothing to do with that, but if Im design something and some chinese company dare to copy my designs I will use it for sure. We are here to give opinions not to attack others or make judgements about other comments and opinions, lets try to keep the good environment around here…. Peace!

JOHNSON thanks a lot for the information that clarifies a lot of points about Intellectual Porperty, so if I understand regarding to the law there is no offence until there is somebody offended. What happen in cases like BMW against Soueast for the BMW X5, I would say is exactly the same situation, probably the F1 its just a photoshop trick we have to wait until BYD launches the car to the market, but again it wouldnt be a surprise if they actually copied the Aygo, keep happening again and again, they just dont stop copying.

I’m still holding my tongue….
Johnson, thanks for the info. I wanted to say something with a lot more colourful language.
Mundosanto, my original comment was aimed at yet another person who comes here, sees the pic and straight away assumes its a copy because it looks like another vehicle…. Broken records always sound like s%^% don’t they? Too many China haters, if they don’t like it they are welcome to leave China or stop buying Chinese goods…. but I bet most won’t because they are either too cheap or are making money off the Chinese…

Obviously you are making this way too personal, let just drop it right here, just an advise, learn to accept other people opinions with an open mind. Take good care mate!

I think you already took it past that point yourself…… Issue dropped till the next time….

Jajajajajaja I think is the second time we run into each other in this way, I hope the next time we agree in a better way. Just for the record I dont hate Chinese in any way, how could I? this have been my home and family for more than one year.

Anyway no hard feelings again, recieve a big hug!

Okie…………..