Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Chinese Automaker Huatai Blatantly Rips Off Bentley, Others

Chinese Automaker Huatai Blatantly Rips Off Bentley, Others!!

By the looks of the Geely GE sedan, the Chinese automaker clearly took heavy inspiration not from Bentley, but from Rolls-Royce. With Huatai's upcoming sedan, pictured above, Bentley can now join the ripped-off-design party with its British rival.

Huatai front view
Chrysler 300C

We don't have any information about the vehicle but think the images speak for themselves. The similarity of the Huatai to the Bentley Continental Flying Spur is most striking from the rear three-quarter view sketch. The Huatai design mostly is faithful to the Bentley, from the raised trunk to the taillights incorporating two ovals. Even the license plate, with a modern serif-less typeface, appears identical to that on some Bentley press photos.

At least Huatai didn't carry over the oval-shaped exhaust pipe finishers of the Bentley. Up front, you'll find a Bentley-like grille and what we believed for a while was the most original design feature on the entire car: the headlights. The two headlights don't originate from a Bentley design, rather, we'd direct your attention to the specially designed headlights from the Lexus LS600hl.

It doesn't end there. Take a look at those nine-spoke wheels -- resemble any famous full-size American sedan you know? That car's wheel is pictured below, for reference.

We've seen examples of excellent, or at least, bold Chinese automotive design in the Great Wall CHC011 and even the Geely GT show car, but the Geely GE and Huatai here leave us shaking our heads.

We're throwing it out to you. Which of the two Chinese cars is a more blatant copy (if either of them): the Geely GE or the Huatai?

Source: China Car Times photos via www.che168.com

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