Top 10 Copycat cars

As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I’ve gathered 10 cases of ultimate flattery in autos here, where the industrial design of one is blatantly copied onto another. Here you go, the showdown of the look-alike cars (and a bus):

1. Daewoo Matiz vs Chery QQ

This one was so extreme, some parts of one car fit into the other (e.g. door panel, bonnet etc).

daewoo-matiz-vs-chery-qq

2. Vauxhall Frontera vs Landwind

frontera-vs-landwind

3. Honda CRV vs Laibao SRV

Check out the semi-Audi front logo too!

honda-crv-vs-laibao-srv

4. Mercedes C vs Geely Merrie 300

The Geely was shown in an auto exhibition. I don’t think it was eventually produced looking like this though.

mercedes-c-vs-geely-merrie-300-proto

5. Neoplan Starliner vs Zonda A9

neoplan-starliner-vs-zonda-a9

6. Rolls-Royce Phantom vs Hongqi HQD

rolls-royce-phantom-vs-hongqi-hqd

7. Smart vs er. Chinese Smart

smart-vs-chinese-smart

8. Toyota Prado vs Dadi Shuttle

toyota-prado-vs-dadi-shuttle

9. Nissan XTrail vs Greatwall Sing

nissan-xtrail-vs-greatwall-sing

10. BMW 7 vs BYD F6

For this, the copying is not so drastic except the lights, but it does get brownie points for imitating the badge as well.

bmw7-vs-byd-f6

bmw-vs-byd-logo

11. Bonus! Toyota Logo vs Geely Logo

toyota-vs-geely

Toyota sued and won though.

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25 Responses to Top 10 Copycat cars

  1. KWAME OWUSU says:

    well done china. copying is a way of moving forward,
    Americans copied Europeans to be what is it now

    • Kevin says:

      It’s a bit misleading to say the Americans copied the Europeans. The Americans were Europeans until the American Revolution and since then have been the primary cultural influence, worldwide.

      With that being said, I will give the Europeans kudos for the style of their dress (among a few other things I find superior and uniquely European). I copy some of that myself.

    • Frak says:

      Of course, it helped that most “Americans” WERE Europeans…

    • Automotive Engineer says:

      Americans copied Eurpeans??? Europeans wished they had anything remotely similar to Ford F150 or Mustang, Chevy Corvette or Camaro, Dodge Viper, Challenger or Charger. LOL!!!

      • Chris says:

        Not really we couldn’t afford to run them big engines lol

      • Anonymous says:

        You got to be kidding, right? So why in US is symbol of status to have Bimmers, Mercs, Ferraris, Porsche, Maseratis, Rolls Royce, Bentleys and so on?
        Any sport car made by any of the above brands beats any of the ones mentioned by you. And you can pick the type of beating: track, road, handling, safety, etc, etc, etc.

    • dan edward says:

      you have got to be kidding. You might want to check history rather than say something this unfounded!

    • mike meade says:

      We were european originally….

    • op says:

      you are so wrong

    • Dennis Resurreccion says:

      Automotive mass production started with Ford. They did not have to copy that from Europe. The biggest names in the IT industry, like IBM, Oracle, and Apple started out in the US. It just so happens that Americans are Europeans who migrated to the American continent. Americans are Caucasians, unlike the original inhabitants of the continent.

  2. Eugene says:

    These people…

  3. joe bona says:

    china can copy all they want, at the end it is still chinese made and made like crap, you get what you pay for, thats the bottom line.

    • Jessie Horton 3rd says:

      i was looking at these and some other cars and the thought that I keep having is, who says we aren’t selling rebadged bigger engined versions of THEIR cars? I ALWAYS hear people call Chinese imports cheap and worthless… but, if you check tags, or shop at ANY Walmart… EVERYTHING YOU OWN is made in China. EVERYTHING… why do WE feel like the Chinese did US wrong? they DIDNT… they gave EVERYTHING THEY HAD in the fight against the Axis powers during ww2 and afterwards they wanted to be FREE from imperial britsh and French colonization and when it was all over… we sided with our imperialist european “kin” to keep the Asian subservient… and they FOUGHT they have fought us JUST as hard as they fought the Japanese, the British and the French and the US NEVER kept its promise to the Asians made during ww2 after the rape of nanking. we have gotten fatter, lazier, dumber, less fiscally responsible. the Chinese culture dates back to BC times… its the longest running country. we are what 400 years and 350 of that have been as tyrants. I love my country, I served/serve my country. but the revisionist history HAS to be stopped the RACISM has to be stopped

  4. Joe Bob says:

    Ching Ching yaka suka, I say.

  5. Tyson says:

    your number 9 great wall vs nissan xtrail is completely wrong, yes the front is a clone of a D22 Nissan frontier, but from there backwards it is a copy of an Isuzu, even as far as the dashboard.

  6. Austin Jieh says:

    Shameless, Chinese Auto makers. Don’t you have heads to design your own models? Why down grading yourself by copying others and spinelessly mimic others logo. No wonder Chinese auto consumers are not buying Chinese brands. Chinese, like all other car lovers in the world, despise these laze and scoundrel copy cat auto makers from China.

  7. Steven says:

    The Japanese copied the WWII Jeep (Land Cruiser). It’s evolved to become one of the most sought after 4x4s on the planet.

    Copying is a form of flattery – as long as the designers eventually put their own style and design into it.

    Something tells me these brands won’t be around as long, though. The jury is out as to whether the Chinese are capable of creating a reliable yet innovative design.

  8. 1samantha says:

    How bout saving billions on research and development .cyber crime pays big time

  9. Stevo says:

    Why would us Europeans want heaps if poor handling gas guzzling garish looking ego munching lumps of poorly built crap handling US cast iron? Its funnny to imagine an F150 trundling down Avenue des Champs-Élysées (Paris France), Piccadilly Circus (London England), Via della Conciliazione (Rome Italy). I think we will stick with our Landrovers, Bentleys, Rolls Royces, Ferraris, Porsches, BMWs, Mercedes, Aston Martins, Jaguars to name but a small few more elegant, better designed, better performing, better built European cars !

    • Kyle says:

      Ok, stick to your bourgeoisie mobiles.
      We can buy bigger, more powerful cars for half the price.

      • Anonymous says:

        More powerfull?? hahahah, european brands have cars with 2.0 liters, 4 cilinders and 360hp. Our 4 liters have 600hp and over.
        Grow up.

        • Anon says:

          Ford S2000 European designed and engineered Ford. 1980s and still ur mustangs and ur chevvys with their “big blocks” can’t hold a light to a 4cyl made over 30 years ago! Small engines but the power density is much higher than ur lazy 6000rpm slow revving v8s. Look at European flat-plane crank v8s…9000rpm…hell even the Maserati cross-plane v8s rev harder faster then ur massive slow v8s. “no replacement for displacement…” except turbos, FI, DOHC, supercharging, twincharging. You stick to your pushrod v8 blocks lol. Power-to-weight is the aim of the game. You got the power…but boy are ur cars heavy.

        • anon says:

          Ford S2000 European designed and engineered Ford. 1980s and still ur mustangs and ur chevvys with their “big blocks” can’t hold a light to a 4cyl made over 30 years ago! Small engines but the power density is much higher than ur lazy 6000rpm slow revving v8s. Look at European flat-plane crank v8s…9000rpm…hell even the Maserati cross-plane v8s rev harder faster then ur massive slow v8s. “no replacement for displacement…” except turbos, FI, DOHC, supercharging, twincharging. You stick to your pushrod v8 blocks lol. Power-to-weight is the aim of the game. You got the power…but boy are ur cars heavy.

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