We have all seen and possibly even bought counterfeit our copied designer products. The Chinese have gotten so good with the copying, that they are now not just doing clothing or purses, but electronics and cars. As you can see on the picture above, the Chinese, specifically the ‘Shuanghuan’ company with its ‘Noble’ car has copied the smart fortwo almost identically. The design copy is so identical that Mercedes is moving towards with suing the Shuanghuan company to stop any possible sales of the 7,000 Euro product in Europe.
The copying is just getting out of hand and most of the time ridiculously identical to the original product. Not only are they copying the cars, but also company names, such as the Cherry (versus Chevy) and even company logos such as the BYD and BMW’s logo.
(7 votes, average: 3.14 out of 5)
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August 29th, 2007 at 6:01 am
that zombie BS, europe was has plenty of cars that look like the smart for a long time. so in fact it is the samrt that look like orther prior mini-cars in europe. The differnce is that the chinese can sell their for 7000 eu and the benz is 30000 eu, made in china of course.
August 29th, 2007 at 6:13 am
Read the following article:
http://www.wheels24.co.za/Wheels24/News/Industry_News/0,,1369-1372-2095_2173473,00.html
These guys DENY that they look the same and blame the ‘media’!!
ANYONE can see that this is a blatant copy!
August 31st, 2007 at 12:08 am
@John
BS you’re talking.
1. the look of the Smart is pretty unique. Tell me other cars that looked like it long time ago.
2. The Smart is built in Hambach, France (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartville,_Hambach,_France)
3. Smart prices start at 7974,- Euro (http://www.smart.com/-snm-0135207688-1185091093-0000025959-0000000002-1187360548-enm-is-bin/intershop.static/BOS/root/root/media/f4/dp/mw$rlpjwshcgnlxsgzj$sjw_rr2p-wloarrz/smart_PL_ft+BRABUS_mP.pdf)
September 3rd, 2007 at 7:28 am
this is not an copy from smart . its for 4 persons , front engine , more options for lower price . i hope noble is on fair in frankfurt . its not a smart its a own kind of cars.
September 26th, 2007 at 9:32 am
If the Noble was intended to be sold carrying a “smart” badge on it, it would definitely be an illegal copy, and btw, heavily modified. The car is gonna be sold for its looks, ok, but it’s not intended to compete directly with the smart. People who want a smart will buy it even if it’s more expensive or if they have to import it by themselves, like we do in Mexico. That same people won’t buy a cheaper Noble. (unless locally sold very cheaply)
March 20th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
the market will say how successful the noble it is .Can smart make their prices more competitive?Smart has to evolve and fix it shortcomings to prevent somebody from doing a better job at a cheaper price.
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:31 am
I have been speaking to a company in the UK, www .wattcars.com. They have the exclusive rights to the (ev) electric version of this vehicle, I have ordered one, I’ll let you know what
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:34 am
I have been speaking to a company in the UK, www .wattcars.com. They have the exclusive rights to the EV version of this vehicle, I have ordered one. I’ll let you know what’s it’s like when it arrives in May!!!
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:39 am
I have been speaking to a company in the UK, www .wattcars.com. They have the exclusive rights to the EV version of this vehicle, I have ordered one, I’ll let you know what it’s like when it arrives.