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  • On this episode of China Uncensored, the Eastern Wind Crazy Soldier...is a type of car in China.

  • Hi, welcome to China Uncensored, I'm your host Chris Chappell. Whether it's a delicious

  • burger from OMC McDnoalds or a fun-filled afternoon spent playing the Polystation, nothing

  • beats a good old Chinese knockoff. Especially if you like cheap cars.

  • Because word is, Chinese car manufactures are looking to play the proverbial Thomas

  • Edison to the Tesla car company. Meet the Le Car.

  • No, I'm not speaking French. "Le" in Chinese means "happy." And nothing makes car owners

  • happier than getting a fancy electric car for half le price.

  • For now, LeCar is still in the concepting phase. And you might be thinking that Tesla

  • uses some pretty advanced technology, so there's no way Chinese car makers could knock it off.

  • But guess what? Chinese car makers have been ripping off foreign car designs for decades.

  • So here are my top seven Chinese car knockoffs.

  • Number 7

  • This is the Bamin. And this is an old Mercedes-Benz W123. Look similar? That's exactly what the

  • Chinese Army wanted. Yes, in the 80s, China's People's Liberation liked the Mercedes so

  • much, they decided to rip it off. It also came in a station wagon model. Back then,

  • basically everything was a state-owned enterprise and Chinese companies just did whatever they

  • wanted. Actually, that second part hasn't really changed.

  • Number 6 You know, China has come a long way from its

  • army "admiring" Mercedes-Benz. And by admiring, I mean actively admiring.

  • These days, Mercedes' parent company Daimler is actually working with Chinese car companies.

  • They've got a partnership with China's BAIC Motor. In less than a decade they've rolled

  • out over half a million cars in China.

  • Which is kind of funny considering BAIC was also rolling this out during that time.

  • It looks like the Mercedes Benz G Class with the grille of a Jeep.

  • Number 5 But if classy cars are your thing, then you're

  • going to love the Geely GE. Don't let the characteristic flying lady hood ornament fool

  • you. Uh, actually, wait, yes. Let it fool you.

  • But while some, like the lawyers representing Rolls Royce, think it's a cheap knock off,

  • Geely feels it's just "re-inventing the classic."

  • Just like how I'm planning to sell my "re-invention" of the Mona Lisa to the Louvre. Actually,

  • to the knockoff Louvre in Hebei province.

  • Number 4 Does this LandWind X7 look familiar to you?

  • It certainly looked familiar to the head of Jaguar Land Rover. Though he took a pretty

  • soft tone when he said that "Chinahas enough creativity and engineering power to

  • do something on their own and doesn’t have to fall back to the time when copying was

  • of interest."

  • Unfortunately for him, copying is still of interest to China. And Chinese authorities

  • dismissed his legal complaints that the LandWind X7 looks almost the same as the Range Rover

  • Evoque.

  • But one thing isn't the same. The LandWind is only a fraction the price.

  • Number 3

  • The Lifan 330?! How did this get on the list?! I'm sorry, this is a mistake. At first some

  • people thought it looked a lot like a Mini Cooper. But the Lifan has made the good point

  • their car has four doors, not two. So, totally different.

  • Wait? This is the 2015 Mini Cooper. Um, but it has stripes. So again, totally not the

  • same.

  • Number 2

  • We've already seen the LandWind. This is the Eastern Wind, or Dongfeng. The model is called

  • Crazy Soldier. I think they mean crazy-good, not crazy-unreliable. But anyway, it might

  • look familiar to anyone who's ever seen a Hummer. Everything is pretty much a direct

  • copy: the exterior, to the interior, even the engine.

  • But none of these will prepare you for the greatest Chinese knockoff of foreign cars...

  • Number 1 Autobots.

  • Though the title makes it sound like a knockoff of Transformers, pretty much everything else

  • screams Disney's "Cars." Though I can't say for sure because, honestly, there's no way

  • I'm going to sit and watch this.

  • I mean, what's next, a Portuguese rip off of Muppet Babies?

  • Oh.

  • So what do you think of these knockoff Chinese cars? Are they really different designs? Or

  • are they just taking Western car companies for a ride? Leave your comments below and

  • subscribe for more China Uncensored! Once again I'm Chris Chappell, see you next time.

On this episode of China Uncensored, the Eastern Wind Crazy Soldier...is a type of car in China.

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