UFO’s are actually often seen in China, it seems the Chinese are quite good at spotting the circular flying discs, but not quite as good as their American brethren.
But its not a flying saucer that is hitting CCT headlines today, its a five door UFO that’s stirring up the trouble. Jonway UFO started their car making business with a first generation 3 door Toyota RAV4 clone. Sales have been low from what we can gather, but we do think the three door UFO is rather smart, if a little shabby on the inside.
The new UFO, a five door version, takes off from where the old UFO left off. Its a small compact SUV, this time it has five doors, and looks a lot like the currently imported RAV4 (but soon to be domestically made by FAW-Toyota) Even the crease on the rear tyre cover has been incorperated into the new UFO’s design, for comparison a picture of the tyre cover on the 2008 RAV4 can be found here, a front picture can be found here. As the ‘Made in China’ brand tries to pull itself away from the days of cloning products and reselling them under a different name, companies like UFO come along and add more fuel to the fire!
The 5 door UFO’s engine is currently unknown, but it is expected to be of Mitsubishi stock. Price, or launch date are still unknown. With FAW-Toyota on the verge of starting RAV4 production in China, CCT thinks that FAW may put the slap down on UFO before this model reaches the showroom.
Chinese manufacturers really need to stop this. I think though the first step is a rationalization of the industry. Tiny manufacturers like this have no money of facilities for R&D so it’s not surprising they’re producing this kind of copy.
Jonway UFO are now part of the Wuzheng Group and have been for a few years, there should be enough in the pot to produce a car that isnt a clone.
I would be interested to see and test this new 5 door model. Although Jonway prefers to export rather than provide locals a chance to purchase, the quality is very good, I felt and much cheaper than Toyota’s prices.
The existing 3dr UFO is a clone of the 2nd generation (2000 – 2006) RAV4 3dr, not the first generation (1994 – 2000).
This looks like a clone of the 2nd generation RAV4 5dr, but with the nose of the current (3rd generation) model grafted on.
LOL, It ironically looks better than original RV4.
a v ery great hot ride i want one for my self