1. The Lifan "Mini Cooper" 320
Usually, when one manufacturer succeeds with a car another will try and take that idea and make their version different and better, a la the Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger. In China, when a company comes to market with a successful car rival automakers will merely make a poor imitation of it. Thus we present the Lifan 320, a car that somehow manages to maintain the original elements of the MINI we knew and loved, and manages to make it horribly and inexcusably terrible.

2. Great Wall Kunna Electric Concept
As if the Great Wall Kunna Electric concept car wasn't cute enough, there's a stuffed Panda in the passenger's seat. Though we don't think they're indicating you should pick up Panda hitchhikers (you shouldn't — they always want to control the radio), the company has embraced the idea that small cars always look odd and it's just easier to design that into the car than out of it.

3. MG TF Police Convertible
Though American undercover cops occasionally tool about in convertibles (think Miami Vice), we can't think of too many convertible, two-seater marked police cars here in the states. Nevertheless, that didn't stop the Chinese company that now owns classic British carmaker MG from making this MG TF Police Car. Though technically next door at the Police & Equipment Show, this hot little cop coupe was a hit and could be seen picking up political dissidents any day now — only one at a time.

4. Chinese Smart Clone - Harley Davidsion Edition
There's nothing special about a Chinese Smart Car clone as there are tons of them made by Shanghuan Auto. This time, however, the company's Kamino corporate rulers have one-upped themselves with the Harley Davidson Edition. That's right, it's a Smart knockoff with the knockoff of a Harley Davidson painted on the side. Genius! It even isn't big enough to hold a Harley — just like the F-150 pickup adorned with similar accoutrements stateside.

5. Souped Up London Taxi
This, technically, isn't a knockoff. Does it look like a Chinese cab? Yes. But Chinese manufacturer Geely has a contract with London Taxi Inc. to build the Black London Taxi. Totally legit. Though most think of the vehicle as a means for someone driving you around, if you need to get there in a real hurry then this TX4 "hot rod" model is the way to go. It has everything a real London cab needs, including a picture of Big Ben in the back. Tally Ho!

6. Huanghai Faster SUV
Though some Chinese companies might be tempted to take advantage of lax intellectual property laws and outright steal the popular design of the Lexus RX series SUV, automaker Huanghai should be congratulated for resisting the urge. Instead of taking the entire car, they merely took the rear 75% of a Lexus RX and grafted on the front 25% of a Pontiac Torrent for their Huanghai Faster SUV. To make it even more interesting, it's powered by a Mitsubishi engine. For reasons that currently elude our understanding, the car is flanked by car models dressed as hot cops. Maybe they just didn't fit in the MG cop car from earlier.

7. Hafei Saibao V
Though the Hafei Saibao V isn't the most original sports sedan (there's more than a touch of Mazda3 and Lancer Ralliart), we have to give them credit for taking all of the sporty visual cues they could think of — from a gigantic spoiler to super sporty wheels — and fit them all on one car. And if that wasn't enough, they also flanked it with not one, not two, but four models dressed for the prom. That's because when you want to sell a car to sporty guys you need as many gowned models as possible.

8. The Off Road BJ
If you think the BAW B60 Jeep — or BJ — looks a lot like an actual Jeep, you'd be correct. Chrysler and BAW worked together back in the day to co-develop this Jeep for non-Civilian use. Of course that development partnership fell through more than a few years ago, but why let a silly thing like trademarks, copyrights and international intellectual property laws get in the way? That may explain why it looks like the BJ has taken on a bit of Hummer and Land Rover DNA on the front fascia — BAW hopes it'll confuse anyone into thinking the other 90% is pure unadulterated Jeep. But, much like the originals, this formerly Military vehicle is ready to find use in the home of a minimally endowed real estate agent.



9. Hafei Minyi Elephant Transporter
As much as we Americans may love the idea of the minivan, the Chinese love the idea of the mini-minivan. But just in case should you think that this Hafei Minyi isn't big enough for you and your family, the company has put a stuffed baby elephant inside the strange little van to simulate the awesome carrying potential of a minivan crossed with a b-segment econo-box. Of course, even a baby elephant is a touch too big for the Minyi, so you can see the poor animal's stuffed behind sticking out the other end in a way we think would probably be a turn off for potential buyers.

10. The Hybrid Chinese Military Jeep

Kissing cousins to the BAW B60 "BJ" Jeep above, this military Jeep has what we'll call an "interesting" camouflage pattern. As opposed to the high-detail of the pixelated multicolor look of US Military vehicles, the pixels here look to be a few inches across. Was it perhaps designed to patrol the Lego cities of the future or play in some "War Games"-like game of Tetris? Despite the questionable paint scheme, the hybrid powertrain's far superior to your average Hummer. No sense sullying the air with more pollutants than necessary in your standard scorched-earth campaign, eh?

[Source/Photos: The Tycho, China Car Times, AutoExpress.co.uk]

This is technically happening at the Beijing Police And Equipment show next door to the Beijing Motor Show. The only drawback to this model is that you can't arrest more than one person at a time. But that's a small price to pay for looking so good. [AuotSina via The Tycho]

Multiple part question here. Would you buy a Chinese car? Which one? Why? Why not? Would Geely's King Kong be involved? What about a Chinese-bodied Mazda6 like the FAW B50?

The car will be produced as part of a partnership between Volkswagen and Shanghai Auto (SAIC). How much does a premium, stretched Jetta go for? Rumors say about $14,300 USD to start with. Not a bad deal. [AutoHome via The Tycho]

It turns out MG Sport & Racing wasn't part of the deal when all the Nanjing Auto maddness went down. This apparently included the right to produce the Qvale Mangusta-based MG XPower SV. A British company stepped up to fill the tiny vacuum created by the loss of Xpower production. Powered by a a 4.6-Liter Ford V8, this sports car can be yours for the low, low price of about $150,000. With production limited to six per month, these cars are certainly unique. Worried about finding parts? Have no fear as this car is made out of a plethora of other cars. For instance, notice those headlights? Standard Fiat Punto.

That's right MG fans, rejoice away as it's the car company that will never die. [Birmingham Mail via China Car Times]

Still following us? Now SAIC technically owns the brand, the MG name and some MG technology. SAIC also has the cash resources of a small Eastern European country and could therefore truly resurrect the brand worldwide. Whether or not that will happen is still anyone's guess. [Reuters]

Well, at least we can say that there's a better chance of this working out than that SAIC-MG merger that never ended up going anywhere. [Bloomberg News via IHT]

GM, SAIC and OnStar Announce China Telematics JV Will Provide In-Vehicle Safety, Security and Communication Services

Shanghai - General Motors, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation Group (SAIC) and OnStar announced today the establishment of a telematics joint venture called Shanghai OnStar Telematics Company Limited. This is OnStar's first venture outside of North America in its 11-year history.

"Like our other joint ventures, Shanghai OnStar Telematics will contribute to the ongoing development of China's automotive industry," said SAIC Vice Chairman Chen Hong. "Our goal is to work with our partners to make our newest joint venture the preeminent provider throughout China of world-class, innovative telematics services."

A few of the most tedious men in the auto industry are dropping the science behind the launch of the Skoda Octavia in the world's second largest auto industry. According to the Shanghai Volkswagen heads, the Chinese Octavia is more advanced than the European model. Plus, it's apparently available with the "Turbochanger Superchanger Injection" motor. Which — as far as we can make out is a breakdancing transformable robot that leaps out of the engine bay and pulls you to safety when the going gets seemingly impassable. Skoda for life! Skoda for victory! – Davey G. Johnson

What Octavia will bring to mid-size sedan market [China Economic Net]

Related:
Skoda Arrives in China [Internal]

If buying Rover in all but name (thanks to those crafty bastiches in M nchen-Stadt) and slapping a weird melange of 300C and Audi schnoz on the front gives one mad Brit cred, SAIC may as well change its name to Pete Townshend, Carnaby Street or the Earl of March. The Roewe booth at the Shanghai show had the models all dolled up in riding gear, standing prim, proper and vaguely Stepford-esque. To be fair, the Roewes were likely the most well-realized seeming of the Chinese automakers' non-joint-venture products, and they do look a helluva lot better than Rovers past. That said, we'll wait for the JD Power numbers on these puppies. (Insert Five Deadly Venoms fighting the ghost of Joe Lucas joke here. Thanks.) – Davey G. Johnson

Related:
Red Rover: New Roewe [Internal]

I can't in truth call my Shanghai trip a comedy of errors, although there were errors, one of which resulted in my flying home first class. And while some of the Engrish I encountered was laugh-out-loud gut-busting. I can't quite refer to it as a tragedy, either. What it was, however, was a slightly nebulous, inchoate paradigm-fucker of a time/history/distance shift.

Pudong, the area of Shanghai where Audi put us up, didn't exist in any way, shape or form resembling what it is now a mere fifteen years ago. The government laid a bunch of nightsoil in anticipation of a flood of foreign capital and a thousand skyscrapers bloomed. We joked after Chairman Li's speech in Detroit that the Changfeng press conference was an example of the Great Leap Sideways. Having seen Shanghai, I'm not so sure.

For most of us, the Chinese auto market seems far-off and regrettably goofball. And it is that. It's also the second largest in the world. Bear in mind, the first mass-produced Chinese car debuted in 1958; Henry Ford had over half a century on it, having founded FoMoCo a mere two years after the quelling of the Boxer Rebellion. Today? The market ranges from double-dutied $500k Rollers to $3,000 domestic copies of outdated Suzuki Altos. The Jin Mao Building is the fifth-highest in the world, yet won't-take-no-for-an-answer hustlers hang just outside attempt to pawn genuine faux Rolexes off on you.

Leaving Shanghai, fellow autojourno Jon Guzik and I were strolling through Shanghai Pudong airport. Guzik had picked up a faux Louis Vuitton bag the day before and was using at as a carry-on. Then the strap snapped.

The problem is, that's the reality of much of China — the reality that springs to mind when we're not thinking of Mao posters, little red books, subpar working conditions or the death vans for inveterate cuties. But the reality of the Chinese auto industry is that there will be a day — and that day is rapidly approaching — that the strap won't break. Brace yourselves. Shanghai '07 may well stand as the first drops of a watershed that could flush the colon of the auto industry to the point that we'll no longer recognize it. It wasn't in the cars we saw. It was in the actions; the attitudes. The propaganda was at times laughable, but the grasp on what it takes to compete primarily has to do with Western tastes in marketing. No American shopping for a heavy-duty truck will want to buy "The Floating Aerodrome on Land," but cut-rate goods built to a solid standard are coming — while not as luxe as the A8L we rode in, the Chinese-built A6L's interior panel fit was actually better.

The show may have been somewhat provincial and the air-conditioning non-existent; English-language press kits may have been few and far between; the models may have been beautiful but ill-trained, but there was an undeniable import inherent in the event that I didn't see in Paris, Detroit or New York. Only Los Angeles came close, although it'll be a few more years before it truly regains its footing. Nevertheless, LA and Shanghai are shifting while the others are riding the status quo so cluelessly and intently that they may as well have had the In The Army Now album cranking full-bore for the length of the exhibitions.

A Japanese automaker overtook GM for the first time in first-quarter sales; Japan is an aging population with less and less of a workforce; China is growing exponentially, geometrically, algebraically, ballistically and without regard for your interpretation of integers. The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere may be seven decades overdue, but it is coming. And don't be surprised if in 50 years, the big players end in "-eng" rather than "-a."

Thanks for listening. We'll see you next Wednesday. – Davey G. Johnson

"Fast as a Shark" is a weekly electronic broadside aimed at what has been historically right and terribly wrong with the autmotive industry and culture. And yes, a pretty girl once kissed us for singing an Accept song at karaoke.

In September of 1958, Shanghai Auto Industry Corporation introduced the Phoenix, the first locally-built car. In 1964, its name was switched to "Shanghai Sedan." Oddly enough, in Shanghai, when a road sign features a pictogram of an automobile, it bears an uncanny resemblance to a head-on, simplified shot of a Phoenix. If only German road signs featured Porsche 550s and American signage Chrysler Conquests, just a little bit more would be right with the world. – Davey G. Johnson

Related:
Short-Lived GM Car of the Day: Pontiac Phoenix [Internal]

"We have just floated...on the A-share market through the injection, so we are focusing on improving the A-share company...we need to further improve the quality of our growth instead of further boosting the size of our assets. At the moment, all domestic automakers are working on plans to expand their production as the Chinese market is still growing steadily"

...whatever super serum the Chinese have created to give them super automotive powers to allow them to take over the world. Yeah, we're really hoping he means the assets thing. Either way, it looks like we can cross SAIC off of the list of potential suitors for the 'merican side of the not-so-much equal merger. Hmm, what is the pundit class going to do now? Wait, I know — come on reporters, let's head back to Germany to get more nonsensical quotes from labor leaders! – Ray Wert

China's SAIC focuses on home growth, rules out puchases (sub. req.) [Automotive News]

Related:
More Chrysler Group Sales Speculation: DaimlerChrysler Wants To Keep Jeep Brand?; Breaking Crazy Chrysler Speculation! Chrysler Swap For GM Ownership Stake; GAZ To Buy Or Not To Buy? [internal]

Having lost the rights to use the Rover name via some deft trademark swappery between BMW and Land Rover, Shanghai Auto is changing its brand strategy. The new owners of rights to build the erstwhile Rover 25 and 75 in China will do so under a new name and logo: Rowr! Roewe or, in Chinese, Rong Wei (I kid you not). The company made the announcement ahead of the Bejing auto show next month, where it will unveil a car derived from the 75, dubbed 750E, which it plans to export to Europe and the US. Sure, it's sutiably British sounding, but will buyers outside China consider a near decade-old luxury platform sporting a weird, faux olde English name? And is Nanjing Automobile, the new owner of MG Rover, which has possession of the car's tooling, ready to make a deal? So many questions, so little interest. – Mike Spinelli

Roewe brand Intro microsite [SAIC]

Related:
Is The Way Backward The Way Forward? Ford Buys Rover Name [internal]

Former British rivals MG and Rover are facing new competition from China: each other. China's Shanghai Automotive (SAIC), having lost the bidding war for many of MG Rover's assets — including the MG name — to Nanjing last year, reportedly spent $21 million to buy the rights to the Rover name from BMW. The deal could still be derailed by Ford, which according to the UK's Guardian, holds rights of first refusal for the brand name after buying Land Rover from BMW in 2000. (And, if SAIC does get Rover, it's banned from building off-road vehicles under the name.) Still, with MG on a high-profile push for expansion, but SAIC having far more financial juice than Nanjing, the fight for bizarro British rule in China is bound to be a hoot, if nothing else.

MG and Rover to Compete Again [PistonHeads]

Related:
Nanjing's MG Rover Deal: The Art of War with Shanghai Auto; Duke Hale Says: Never Mind Nanjing, MG to Be Built in the US [internal]

AutoWonder reports on some clever backstory regarding the sale of MG Rover to China's Nanjing Automobile. According to a report in China's Sina Auto, Nanjing's relationship with bidding-war rival Shanghai Auto (SAIC) had been contentious ever since SAIC beat Nanjing out of a preliminary joint venture deal with MG Rover. Could this be the sound of MGs 75s being pounded into swords?

The deal ended badly for Nanjing. SAIC ended up with the rights to build the Rover 25 and 75 (for which it paid $100 million), while Nanjing was given production duties of the cars — though the deal collapsed and MG folded. Vowing revenge, Nanjing executives allegedly held secret talks with MGR executors in June to pitch a takeover plan, which was approved last week. SAIC vows double-revenge, mulling legal action to block the sale, and vowing never to collaborate with Nanjing.

The Battle over Rover [AutoWonder]

Related:
Saved!: Nanjing Automobile Buys MG Rover [internal]