Copycats from China: 6 cars whose design was shamelessly stolen

Chinese automakers don’t care too much about the intellectual property of others. On the car market in the east of the country you will find countless cars that are strikingly similar to the existing models. It’s better to steal well than think badly, as they say in China.

Premium brands in particular are victims of the small, creative Chinese car designers. When the “inspirational sources” come knocking on a judge’s door, they often get a rude awakening.

Chinese copycat cars with stolen design

Land Rover, for example, filed a lawsuit against Landwind in 2015. Not because of the name, but because of the shameless copy that the Chinese brand calls X7. We have listed these and other imitators for you below.

1. Landwind X7 – Range Rover Evoque

First off, the Landwind X7, perhaps one of the worst offenders. The Chinese car is very similar to the Range Rover Evoque. When Land Rover went to court, the brand was told it saw things that weren’t there.

2. Lifan Xuanlang – Ford S-Max

Another Chinese brand that has never heard of intellectual property is Lifan. The headlights, bumper and window frames; Everything seems to have been taken over from the Ford S-Max one-to-one.

3. Lifan 320 – Mini Cooper

Lifan doesn’t stop there when it comes to copycat cars. Even Mini had to pay for it. It is clear that the Chinese based their design of the Lifan 320 on the lines of the Mini Cooper.

4. Zotye E30 – Smart ForTwo

Luckily, the Zotye E30 isn’t a clone of this iconic E30, but of the Smart ForTwo. The similarities between the Chinese car and the European two-seater are undeniable. The Zotye E30 is a Smart ForTwo with an Asian touch.

5. Geely GE – Rolls Royce Phantom

Geely is overwhelming the car market and trying to make life difficult for brands like Mercedes, BMW and Audi. However, this is no longer possible with this Rolls-Royce Phantom model, but in a completely new way. At least that’s what happens with copycat cars.

6. BYD S8 – Mercedes CLK and Renault Megane

Finally the BYD S8. Although this Chinese car is very colorful, we cannot deny that there was a certain amount of creativity at play when designing this model.

Just think of merging the front of a Mercedes CLK with the rear of a Renault Megane.