What's Wrong With That Volvo?
According to conventional wisdom, all cars in China are blatant copies of foreign cars. With the joint venture cars, that is certainly true. With some true red Chinese cars this is also sometimes the case. Now it seems that Chinese carmakers ran out of foreign victims and started to copy Chinese cars. Volvo is owned by China’s Geely, as we all know. Can you spot the true Volvo?
Is it the one way above, or just the one above? The one way above is, so Carnewschina tells us, not a Volvo. It is a car with the memorable moniker “Jiuma JM2805CWX-1 (HD)”. No that’s not the VIN, that’s its name. The one above this paragraph is the real Volvo V50.
As you can see, the Jiuma JM2805CWX-1 (HD) – close your eyes and repeat – looks pretty much like the V50, down to the diagonal thingie across the grille.
Jiuma is a small automaker near Shanghai that is owned by the – pay attention now – Shanghai Jinma Vehicles Co. They made a dubious name for themselves by creating a knock-off Santana, also pictured above. Hint: When you knock off a car, pick a new one!
The Chinese courts are famously unreliable when they deal with knockoffs. But here, the Jinma/Juma deals with Li Shufu, owner of Geely and Volvo. He doesn’t need the courts. He has his own private army!
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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The license plate of the Jiuma "Volvo" says "Mixed Powered Car." Is it a hybrid?
I don't get why the Chinese won't pay someone to design their cars. Are their margins so slight that it's not possible?