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Tags: Mercedes-Benz, Smart

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Chinese Smart copy angers Mercedes
Chinese copycat cars caused enough trouble when they were sold in China, but the new generation of copycats about to be sold in Europe are putting legitimate manufacturers on the defensive. The latest case involves the Shuanghuan Noble (pictured inset), a minicar whose styling is, to put it politely, derivative of the Mercedes Smart car. Though it was earmarked for sale shortly after its debut at the Frankfurt auto show, legal action from Mercedes could mean it’d be barred for sale. Read Article



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KingerKinger - 8/21/2007 9:01:02 AM
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This blatant copying is getting rediculous. Apparently t the Chinese Cherry QQ copies the Chevrolet Matiz so blatantly that its doors can be fitted to the Matiz with no modifications. O:

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w209w114w209w114 - 8/21/2007 9:14:33 AMView My AgentSpace
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Mercedes-Benz is powerful enough to make this company disappear from the face of the earth. Nothing wrong with competition, but another thing is stealing complete designs. The lawsuit will be huge

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bulldogzbulldogz - 8/21/2007 9:23:32 AM
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why would anyone want to copy the Smart, that thing is craptacular.

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Will_Will_ - 8/21/2007 10:06:09 AM
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You mess with Wal-Mart, you're asking for a cage deathmatch.

Agree though.

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johannasjohannas - 8/21/2007 10:20:22 AM
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What's sad to me is that Wal-Mart could not survive without products from China, and Americans act like they couldn't survive without Wal-Mart.

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Bmw8terBmw8ter - 8/21/2007 11:12:32 AM
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PLEASE....making them pay civil penalties won't do anything. China can afford to pay Mercedes 1,000 times over whatever the penalties are.

Denying the ability to sell the product on a particular continent would be much more devastating, but even then, the U.S. will end up filling that gap, like they have been.

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S4cabriofoxoneS4cabriofoxone - 8/21/2007 11:39:01 AMView My AgentSpace
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Wal-Mart is an abomination.

I agree, 43LE. I definitely won't be buying Chinese vehicles any time soon, but general products will be hard to avoid.

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david999david999 - 8/21/2007 10:21:46 AM
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What a shock, a Chinese knockoff.

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EL34EL34 - 8/21/2007 10:42:03 AM
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What do you wanna bet the interior fabric was made with formaldehyde and the exterior paint was made with lead based paint?

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r15mohdr15mohd - 8/21/2007 1:04:53 PM
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i think a lot us underestimate the the amount of products that come from china. check around your house and you'll be surprised at the amount, then do a price check and see how much an average coffee maker $50 is comapred to a comaprison itlaian brand at $200 plus.

now yes, China needs some guidance, and i have no doubt that they will fix the issues and be back where they once were.

and all this complaining about wal-mart, etc. i personally love my local super wal-mart, it has everything and its only one trip with very good prices. all else aside, thats the value right there, being able to be provided with as much as possible in one store.



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Threepoint1415926Threepoint1415926 - 8/21/2007 2:46:22 PM
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Walmart is the scum bucket of the earth! Every time I go there, I park at the very end of the lot and still my car gets keyed, door dinged or shopping carted. Never mind that I park further from the door than my house is located. Then, once you get in, you're greeted with a disturbing smell, a crowd of lepers that you can't avoid touching and cheap wares smiling back at you with "low prices." I'd say "low value" if you ask me, because everything I buy there brakes anyway. It's the equivalent of shopping at harbor freights, when they ask you if you want a warranty your standard reply should be "no! WHEN it breaks, I'll throw it away and get a proper tool!" Then, you have the privilege of standing in a line for half an hour or checking out yourself and waiting for "assistance" to come fix your broken machine. All so I can go on my merry way with 4 bags filled with one item each only, of course, after having saved $1.23! No thank you!


johannasjohannas - 8/21/2007 2:50:09 PM
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A friend of mine asked me once, "Are Americans so cheap that they have to shop at Wal-Mart, or are they so poor that the have to shop there?"


david989david989 - 8/21/2007 2:07:28 PM
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Why has Lexus not sued Mercedes yet for copying the GS?

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BentleyGTBentleyGT - 8/21/2007 2:33:44 PM
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Why has Mercedes not sued Lexus for the 2002-2006 LS430, It has the 1992-1999 S class body and the S class coupe headlights.


Will_Will_ - 8/21/2007 5:32:55 PM
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Why has Nissan not sued over the W221? It has the last-generation Altima's body and headlights, and two-generations-ago's taillights.t


huu76huu76 - 8/21/2007 2:29:27 PM
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Just one more link in a long chain of industrial espionage and corporate ripoffs (google Redberry).

It's too bad N.America still bows down to the all mighty 50cent t-shirt.

We can all thank Bubba Clinton for opening the door, (all it cost China was a few hundred thousand in campaign contributions).
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/congress/jan-june98/china_5-19.html

And thank Bush for taking the door right off so it didn't slow down big business.

As I've said before, war is inevitable and that's what it'll take to wake the populace from it's Wal-mart induced coma. Hopefully Corporate America won't have outsourced the B-2 to the Chinese by then.

r15,
You really are blind, you know that. I feel sorry for your future kids because you put more value in a $50 coffee maker than their well being (you do realize it will be them that does the fighting).

I'm sort of pissed the Federal Reserve bailed big business out, yet again. A 5 year recession in the US would cripple China.

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1evlaudi1evlaudi - 8/22/2007 11:43:10 AMView My AgentSpace
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The question is:
Is it time for the US consumers and european consumers to boycot chinese products?

I know I am, I started already, from the toys for my kid to whatever else. When shopping I always check where the product comes from, and I do not buy anything made in China.
China is destroying their homeland in the name of industry growth, they are also gross polluter endangering the entire planet. They are a menace to our way of life, they are part responsible for our gas price at the pump going up.
They send us toys with lead in them, this blatant copy of the smart shows the extend of their many franchise, trademark or copyright infrangements.
THIS HAS TO STOP. F@#&^ WALMART TOO.
If we as a country stop buying products made in China, American companies will bring those manufacturing jobs back to the US or at the worst somewhere else, but hopefully some will come back. Don't tell me that Mattel can't make toys here in the USofA.

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SedecremSedecrem - 8/22/2007 7:21:52 PM
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Lexus did this same thing in the 1990's, they flat out were copying Mercedes designs. Rubbish...

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