Great Wall has said that a Chinese court has dismissed a claim by Fiat alleging infringement of Fiat’s patent by Great Wall on the GWPeri model that is said to closely resemble Fiat’s Panda.
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Great Wall said that the Shijiazhuang Intermediate People’s Court had dismissed the claim by Fiat and ordered Fiat to pay the court fees of 8,800 yuan.
Reuters reported that Fiat is evaluating a number of options on how to proceed following the judgement.
The Chinese court judgement appears to fly in the face of a recent European court judgement on the same issue. A Turin court last week banned Great Wall from selling its compact GWPeri in the European Union, saying the car too closely resembled Fiat’s Panda.
Great Wall also said that it will start selling a pickup truck (the Wingle) in Italy later this year, its second vehicle in Europe, where it already markets the Hover SUV.
The Wingle will also be sold in Romania.
