General Motors is investigating the possible pirating of a second of its models by Chery, a fast-growing Chinese car maker based in central Anhui province, the Financial Times (FT) said.
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The paper said the passenger car under scrutiny is the Magnus, a model developed by South Korean unit GM Daewoo Automotive & Technology.
“It has been brought to our attention that another car coming out of Chery looks similar to one of the GM products,” a spokeswoman for GM China told the FT on Tuesday. The paper said the Chery model being examined is believed to be the Oriental Sun, which was launched in July.
The FT noted that GM China has already said it is investigating another Chery vehicle released earlier this year, the QQ, which bears a striking resemblance to a GM mini-car called the Matiz, also produced by Daewoo.
GM has just started producing its version of the Matiz in China, rebranded as the Chevrolet Spark, the FT added.
The Financial Times said the alleged piracy of Daewoo designs is an especially sensitive issue, as GM’s main joint venture partner in China, the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp, is also a 20% shareholder in Chery.
SAIC executives last month said the Chery problem would be resolved “soon”, but did not comment on reports it had long been planning to sell its stake in the Anhui company, the FT said.
Any negotiations to sell the 20% stake is complicated by the fact that the sale would involve the ultimate owners of Chery and SAIC – the governments of Anhui and Shanghai respectively, the report noted.
Chery declined to make an official comment on Tuesday, but a brand promotion manager in Shanghai reportedly said the company had been “subject to some irresponsible speculations and attacks”.
“In our design, we mainly rely on ourselves, and learn some good points from international resources,” the manager said, according to the FT.
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The paper said Chery previously denied it stole the mini-car design, but on its website has defended its practice of absorbing the “good features” of rival car products during its development phase as a company.
According to the Financial Times, Chery, founded in 1997, was one of the success stories of the China car market last year, selling about 50,000 vehicles, a 79% year-on-year increase.
