#JAC

We continue on our exploration of Chinese regions and after Harbin we head north to Mohe, still in the Heilongjiang province. This is the northernmost city in the whole of China, completely rebuilt in 1985 after a devastating fire, with striking Russian imperial-era style with colourful facades, spired domes and pillared entrances. A further 60 km (37 miles) north via a very quiet highway is Beijicun (literally “Arctic Village”), the northernmost settlement in China on the Amur River, the border with Russia.

In fact, from a couple places in Beijicun you can clearly see a Russian settlement on the other bank of the river. Even though it was the end of April when I visited, the river was carrying a large amount of ice blocks thawing their way toward the Japan Sea. As you can see on the map below the jump, in Mohe we are further north than any point in Mongolia and around the same latitude as the north of Lake Baikal — two regions I reported on in a previous Trans-Siberian series. You can see the Russian part of the Trans-Siberies Photo Series here and the Mongol part here.

So what are the most popular vehicles in Mohe?

The Beijing Car Show is the one to watch for Brazilian car aficionados. Though we drool and slobber over at what’s shown at NAIAS or in Paris, Brazilians must look elsewhere to see what’s coming to local showrooms. The New Delhi car show had some cars of interest, now it’s the Beijing show a Brazilian must watch.

Case in point, the all-new JAC SII.

JAC is the Chinese company that caused worldwide, well, at least American indignation with a fake F 150. JAC will premiere something at the Beijing Auto Show that is not prima facie fake: A sports car. According to Carnewschina, JAC will show the JAC Heyue SC coupe, or what Carnewschina calls “the biggest surprise for the Beijing Auto Show.”

Tycho, my Dutch friend in Beijing, scored the big one with his fake F150 story. After we wrote about it, everybody from Motor Trend to Pickupinfo.ru wrote about it as well, taking the Carnewschina.com server on a shakedown tour. Tycho does what a good journo needs to do: Feed the beast. He found even better pictures of the pseudo Ford. And he found imagery of its older brother. Which is a Chevy copypaste.

Remember when Ford dragged Ferrari into the U.S. district court in Detroit, after Ferrari had the nerve to call their new Formula One racer the “F150”? Ford feared massive dilution of their F-150 truck mark and sued. Ferrari relented. Let’s see what Ford will do about this overdose of trademark and design patent infringement:

JAC do Brasil has officially announced the result of their first full week of sales. A surprising 1,139 Chinese cars changed hands! According to Brazilian car mag Quatro-Rodas, the company’s President in Brazil, Sérgio Habib, who had expected sales of 3,000 cars in April, is now saying, “Judging by our first week, we can now project more than 4,500 units.” Mr. Habib is well-known in Brazilian auto biz circles. He was responsible for Citroën’s successful launch in Brazil back in the 90s. So his opinion carries weight.