Last week, we brought you news about the Chinese counterpart of the BMW X5 and how the German court banned the maker from selling it in Germany. For those who thought the escapade was over, wait till you hear this.
A German court in Munich has slotted into top gear and ordered Shuanghuan to destroy all their SUVs plying German roads. Making matters worse is the court’s notice to importers, China Automobile, to pay compensatory damages to BMW.
BMW as expected is overjoyed with the court’s verdict which was imminent when BMW’s spokesperson stated that "We are pleased that the court has agreed with our views”
The not so happy Karl Schloessl of China Automobile Germany, said he would launch an appeal against the ruling, which is not yet binding, saying he was prepared to take the case to the European Court of Justice.
It was impossible to ban a vehicle in Germany that was allowed to be on the road in the rest of Europe, Schloessl said, adding that there were more than a 1,000 of them on the road in Italy.
This news serves as a slap on the face of Chinese automakers as a whole. If further verdicts support BMW which I think will, there would be no other choice for Shuanghuan other than plucking its SUVs off German roads and sending them to the crushers. With that said, Chinese automakers will be forced to think twice before bringing their copy cars to Germany again.
2000 BMW X5 Picture Gallery
Chinese cars are cheap to buy, and some don’t have a good reputation for being safe or hot cakes in developed markets. Above all that, the majority resemble BMW’s, Audi’s and Mercedes’ designs.
Glance at the car pictured above. If I were to strip off its badge and park it alongside a previous generation BMW X5, would you be able to tell them apart? I’m very optimistic that you wouldn’t. One can argue that cars today are somewhat similarly designed, headlamps, tail lamps, and quarter glass panels are carried over from one model to another, but definitely not entire cars.
BMW had taken legal action against Shuanghuan by filing a case in a German court in September last year, for making the CEO (Pictured) based on their X5 SUV. The case now has come to an end, BMW emerging victorious in the battle, as the court ruled that Shuanghuan’s CEO infringes BMW’s design rights.
Furthermore, the court announced that Shuanghuan is banned from selling their CEO in Germany.
But Managing Director Karl Schloessl is not happy about the verdict. He complains that the CEO is an entirely different car compared to the X5. He plans to fight again by appealing against the court’s decision.
’It is a one-sided judgment, but of course it was made in Munich. It’s a BMW city," expressed the unhappy director on the court’s verdict.
2000 BMW X5 Picture Gallery
On today’s TopGear blog, Andy Wilman, the executive producer of Top Gear, is telling us that Clarkson was bluffing when he told some "socialist hippies at a book festival" that he scored a 186 mph on public roads with the Veyron: "Now the thing is, you’d need a frigging Tardis to do 186 mph in the Limehouse Link". For those of you speaking proper US English, it means that it is impossible. We think it is very possible as the tunnel is 1.1 mile and the Veyron can reach the quarter mile in 10.2 seconds at 143 mph.
Anyways, Mr Wilman now blames everybody for harassing Jeremy, aka Jezza. "we’re in danger of becoming a country where it’s a crime to be fatuous, to make mischief or just practice the fine art of talking bollocks." said the producer.
So who got the biggest ’bollocks’, Jeremy or his producer, who’s trying to convince us that Jeremy cannot push the Bugatti to 186mph under one mile :)
You’ve seen those ads for selling “government surplus,” or auctioning off “seized property.”
And you’ve taken them with more than a grain of salt. Rightly.
But, just to keep you up to date, sometimes something interesting does come up for sale at one of those government auctions.
Like a 2004 Rolls-Royce Phantom.
Auctioned by the United States Department of Treasury at a seized property auction in Miami last Wednesday.
(more after jump)
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Yesterday Porsche GB continued their legal action against the Mayor of London’s decision to increase the congestion charge from £8 ($16) to £25 ($50) for vehicles with CO2 emissions of over … Even residents within the congestion charge zone will see their payments jump from £0.80 ($1.60) to £25 ($50).
Porsche continued their action by pushing forward their judicial review and have asked for it to be fast tracked in the hope of a decision before the charge is imposed.
Commenting on the filing, Andy Goss, Managing Director of Porsche Cars GB, said, “Not only is this new tax on motorists unfair, it is also a disproportionate and illegal use of power by the mayor. The Porsche case is about protecting London and Londoners from a new tax that will not only fail to reduce CO2 emissions in central London, but also increase congestion and damage air quality.”
Press the read button below for more
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According to Porsche, an official letter sent by TfL and Mayor Ken Livingstone revealed the fact that the request for changing the proposed introduction of a new £25 charge on some vehicles entering London has been rejected. Since the only way to convince them that they are wrong is only the Law Courts, Porsche decided to request a juridicial review.
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The Chinese government has laid down a set of regulations to define what exactly a small displacement car is. The standards are also part of a bigger plan to give more preference for ‘green’ cars in the forthcoming years.
China’s National Development and Research commission (NDRC) have set standards for fuel economy, emissions and car size. This move is aimed to encourage Chinese car makers to upgrade to higher environmental protection standards and in the process, manufacture eco-friendly cars.
The following rules are to be followed by the manufacturer if their car has to be classified under small cars, which will enjoy tax benefits and other preferential policies.
Fuel Economy
For cars weighing from 1660kg to 1770kg, the car has to use less than 9.3 litres of fuel per 100km of travel. Cars weighing from 2180kg to 2280kg must use less than 11.07 litres of fuel per 100km of travel to boast benefits.
Emission Standards
All cars must meet Euro 3 tailpipe emission standards.
Car Size
To meet criteria, small displacement cars must be no longer than 4.2 meters in length and for hatchbacks, cars must be no longer than 4.0 meters in length.
Yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency refused the request of the state of California to set its own automotive CO2 emissions standards. The Administration explained the decision, saying that allowing states to set their own C02 standards was not necessary in light of the effect on CO2 levels which would inevitably flow from the new, higher fuel mileage standards just adopted by Congress.
California’s Governor – the former H1 driver Arnold Schwarzenegger – has said that (...)
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As a political battle, it was great theatre. Harry Reid and Nancy Pellosi, respectively the Democratic leaders in the Senate and the House, are now in the process of wrapping up an energy bill – on exactly the terms dictated by the President.
Which is not good news. They were fighting over imposing new taxes and regulating utilities. The car battle was lost three weeks ago.
By a one vote margin, the Senate yesterday refused to adopt an energy tax increase as a part of the (...)
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