BYD angrily rejected criticisms aimed at their F1 mini car (above) that they showed off at the Geneva car show earlier this month. The general manager of BYD, Mr. Xia Zhibing, said “The BYD F1 is a model developed by ourselves and we hold the intellectual property right for it”
Many people have noticed that the front end of both the Toyota Aygo, and the BYD F1 look remarkably similar, also the F1’s dashboards instrument panel also has a similar design to the Aygo.
The F1 is scheduled to go on the market later towards the middle of this year, BYD is hoping to sell around 25,000 of these F1 cars. BYD hopes to manufacture 200,000 cars in total this year. Its latest car, the larger BYD F6 went on the market this week, which BYD are also hoping to sell around 25,000 of in 2008.
The BYD F1 has a 12 valve 1.0l self developed engine from BYD, the engine has a max torque of 90nm and uses 4.2l of fuel per 100km.
Oh yes, they’re nothing like each other - compare the above right-hand picture with this one of the Aygo:
http://www.carbodydesign.com/news/2004-12-01-psa-toyota/Toyota%20Aygo.jpg
In particular the front bumber/wheel arches are completely different!
One would have to be completely delusional, or on BYD’s payroll, to not acknowledge that the hardpoints are exactly the same on the two vehicles in question. Perhaps BYD subscribes to the philosophy that by repeating a lie enough times, it eventually becomes true.
Much simpler
They are talking about the name ” BYD F1 ” they own it
not Toyota .
Now Sue Toyota for using the same car with a different name ,and get some $$$
Yep, by changing the badge and offering a non Toyota colour it is completely different. *rolls eyes and walks away shaking head*
Purleeeeeeeeeeeeeease.
LOL LOL BYD BYD
Burn your dollars.
BYD CEO should be a stand up comedian.
All grievances set aside, I really like that pink one!
bonnet lines around the left light leading to the lower bumper area dont look too flush though. Perhaps its just the angle of the photo….
Ash, you could buy one and use it as a CCT buildup…. Cheaper than a 200K watered down sports car.
Only if I stick up a Paypal donate button and have the world send me cash to blow on it!
Gotta love that English…
But the “rule of law” hasn’t quite taken hold yet…..
and besides, none of those foreign guests want to make waves down at the courthouse.
Well, what did you expect? Something like this? -
Reporter to BYD rep - “So did you, in fact, copy the Toyota Aygo?”
BYD rep to reporter - “Yeah, you pretty much got it right. We liked the Aygo so much that we decided to just use it as the model for our new F1. But hey, we DID change a FEW things…….” - I don’t think so.
OF COURSE BYD is going to say they designed it themselves! Besides, Toyota has yet to initiate any kind of legal action - if they were REALLY perturbed I think there would have been SOME kind of comment by now regarding infringement. I figure the Beijing show will be the F1’s “offical” introduction with prices and details, and probably start arriving in dealerships sometime in May. I for one can’t WAIT to see it…I’ve always liked the style of the F1/Aygo/C1/whatever. I like the idea of getting a 1.0l engine with the fuel economy of a 0.8l, and just think about the fuel economy of a possible DM (dual mode) model - maybe 2.5-3.0l of fuel per 100km? Gas prices aren’t going DOWN anytime soon, people - I for one DO NOT wish to spend so much of my money filling up my gas tank.
I hope they sue this dumb company and their moronic CEO.
Having seen this in the flesh, its Aygo full stop. how it didn’t get extracted from the Geneva stand is a miracle!
i think it’s worth posting this again-
http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/7104/bydaygodc3.jpg
i believe the pic on the left is one of BYD’s original promo images, which is so incredibly similar it might as well be (and possibly is) a photoshop of Toyota’s (although a few other things seem to have been changed on the production car). unless that was just some website or magazine’s mockup, i’d say that’s quite incriminating evidence right there.
Wow…yes they are certainly based on the same image, you only have to look at the light coming through the interior to see that.
As from our experience, BYD got a lot of positive response from NAFTA/EU car importers.
The exterior and interior design is what budget buyers expect from a city car and we hope that C-NCAP crash tests shows at least 3, better a 4 star result.
Good luck BYD!
Dear BYD, I would like to apply for a job on your design team. Here’s my resume:
http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/9356/bydcontinentalrt8.jpg
Dear Pete,
.
You’re hired!
.
On a side note, I wish the government would start cracking down on this blatant copying. It’s bad enough that Chinese goods have to carry the stigma of the whole lead-paint fiasco, this copying isn’t helping. It’s only ruining it for others like Chery and Brilliance who are just starting to get their foot in the door in the Western markets. Heck, even BYD seemed pretty good with their focus on hybrids. Why blow it all by copying the Aygo (which doesn’t even look that good). Just hire some junior industrial designers from the city, I’m sure they could come up with something in no time.
I think in the end that the foreign manufacturer got the grilling over the lead paint. I lived 5 mins from that factory for a year and like every other business in that town (bloody rich town it is too) it is run by a relatively low educated local who got rich in a JV with a foreign company (nothing uncommon in that here). I think if they hired new designers with little experience they would end up with really good looking designs like the older Geely models…..
Lets hope it’s as well built as an Aygo. The Aygo boot lid is mad entirely of glass with no metal supports. The hinges and the rear wiper are attached directly through the glass. If it’s not engineered correctly then it could explode.