Two Chinese-made car models, Jonway UFO and Shuanghuan CEO, have received tentative approval from the EU to land on European markets. If the approval goes into effect, the two models will be launched in Europe next month.
But circumstances are not favorable. These two models' designs have caused controversy because Jonway UFO resembles a Toyota RAV4 clone and Shuanghuan CEO looks like a replica of BMW X5.
BMW Great China said that Mercedes-Benz and BMW had planned a while before to jointly file a lawsuit against Shuanghuan Auto for design piracy but they did not follow through. But in fact, in 2007 BMW Germany took legal actions to block the sales of Shuanghuan Auto's other model, the Shuanghuan SUV, into the German market, BMW Great China revealed. With final ruling pending from the German court, Shuanghuan CEO will face much uncertainty in Europe. A spokesperson for Toyota stated that his company would not take legal action to block Jonway UFO.
For more details, please read the full story in Chinese. (http://www.bbtnews.com.cn/mainland/channel/37211.shtml)
(China.org.cn January 23, 2008)
