A Chinese carmaker has caused a stir with a copycat Porsche Macan, but cheap SUVs might actually be helping foreign carmakers
The German luxury carmaker is considering legal action against Zotye Automobile over its T700 crossover, which bears a striking resemblance to Porche's own Macan model.
Preview pictures of Zotye’s latest SUV leaked by carnewschina.com, a Beijing-based website, show the similarities between the two cars, from the grill, headlights and doors, to the overall shape and design.
Zotye has been chastised for copying designs in the past, with its Daimler Smart ForTwo and Volkswagen Tiguan clones attracting particular criticism. The T700 will reach the Chinese market with a 170,000 yuan ($27,800) price tag, considerably less than the 558,000 yuan ($90,000) Macan.
However, according to Auto News China editor Yang Jian, cut-price SUVs have been a boon for foreign carmakers as well as domestic ones. Sales of small, domestically produced SUVs, costing between 66,000 to 110,000 yuan ($10,800 to $18,000 have doubled in the first five months to 1.2m units in China.
Foreign carmakers like Honda and General Motors have been quick to pick up on the trend and have launched various models costing less than 129,000 yuan ($20,800) to tempt prospective buyers away from their deep-discounting domestic rivals.
Most Chinese brands are now cutting back on other lines to focus on SUVs, with many planning to launch new models later on this year. Foreign brands, such as Ford and Peugeot, are also planning to launch their own cross-over SUVs for the Chinese market, meaning competition will heat up in the coming years.