BAIC Debuts a Mercedes-Benz G-Class Rip-Off

Giancarlo Perlas April 23, 2015

Does this vehicle look familiar? (Photo Source: Carscoops)

Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co., Ltd., known simply as BAIC, launched a new ride at the recently-held Shanghai Auto Show. The Chinese automaker called it the BAIC BJ80C.

Now, what is this doing on a Mercedes-Benz blog site? Well, as seen in the photo above and in the gallery below, the designers of the product almost entirely copied the Mercedes-Benz G-Class.

It will not take a second glance to arrive at the generalization that the BAIC BJ80C is the Chinese clone of the iconic Mercedes-Benz G-Class. The obvious differences between the two only came on the unit’s grille, and of course, the logo. It should be noted as well that the grille of the BJ80C looked like it was lifted from another vehicle with a legendary status, the Hummer.

Going inside, the interior of the BAIC BJ80C still screams Mercedes-Benz G-Class. The makers of the product unashamedly imitated the dashboard and panels of the German SUV. As a true fan of Mercedes, particularly its G-Class SUV, this is definitely unforgivable.

Although giant automakers tend to copy some of the styling of their rivals, and that does not excuse Mercedes, it should not come to a point wherein almost 90 percent of the design has been cloned from the original product. This is really not right from all angles.

What does Daimler think of this?

According to CarNewsChina, Daimler, which BAIC shared some joint projects in the Chinese region, opposed the BJ80C at first. It is not clear yet if the German automaker already approved this copycat, but the same source suggested that the two may have ironed things out already in connection to the BAIC auto.