China embraces budget ‘copy-car’ culture

In the wake of the recent Auto China motor show in Beijing, JATO Dynamics, the world’s leading provider of automotive data and intelligence, has commented on China’s appetite for budget facsimiles of established western automotive products.

The show provided a perfect platform for Chinese manufacturers to showcase their latest models, and one of the most striking aspects of their rapidly expanding product portfolios is the near identical visual relationship to established competitor products from Europe, the USA and the rest of Asia.

“Knowing exactly what vehicle you’re looking at can be very confusing,” says Nick Margetts, General Manager of JATO Dynamics, Germany. “The ability of the Chinese to replicate products is well known, and they have applied similar skills to automotive design. Under the skin these cars bear no relationship to the originals and retail for significantly less money.” He continues: “It’s important to understand that they consider this to be the sincerest form of flattery and are quite open about their commercial objectives.”

In a country where many consumers are realising their dream of car ownership for the first time, the priority is to produce cars with appealing design but at a realistic cost.

“Most Chinese want mobility at a good price,” says Bin Hu, General Manager of JATO Dynamics, Beijing. “Ultimate quality and reliability are not too much of a consideration in the current market. At the moment, the Chinese are far less demanding as consumers than those in more sophisticated markets and price is everything; even if it is at the expense of what many now perceive as basic safety features such as airbags and ABS.”

JATO is quick to acknowledge the rapid speed with which the Chinese automotive industry is evolving, and is closely monitoring the likely time-frame within which it will seek to export its ever-improving products to the worldwide markets. Today, many observers do not consider Chinese domestic vehicles to be ready for mass-consumption in Europe, but fundamental design advances which took other Asian brands many years to adopt are being turned around by Chinese manufacturers in a single generation. The Global market has already established a growing appetite for budget brands and there is absolutely no doubt that China’s vast resources will enable it to become a major force in years to come.