Fake it till you make it: Chinese Cadillac clone
No, these are not super-secret spy shots of the 2010 Cadillac Cimarron. GM (hopefully) learned its lesson then, and is not creating a baby Caddy by grafting a Catera grille onto a 1998 Volkswagen Jetta.
Pictured here might be the Chinese-made Marindo 506 from Shanghai Maple. Due to major language barriers, it's hard to tell if this is a past model or one soon to be introduced. What is evident is the definite influence by Cadillac's art and science design philosophy, probably not used with Ed Wellburn's permission.
But from photos found on the Maple website, their current design language is a tribute to yet another luxury marque.
(More photos after the jump)
[Source: Carscoop]
PHOTO GALLERY:
These are current Maple models, though which one isn't clear. Can you guess what German company with the four-ring logo inspired this car's designer?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
renshcp 10:01AM (4/21/2008)
I saw one of these CTS knock-off cars on the street in Shanghai yesterday. Thankfully the driver stopped for something so I got right up to the tail end and took a picture with my phone... now I've searched for and found it on the internet. My life is complete. This car looks hilarious in person.. but for some reason I want to buy one. I should have offered him 1000 quay on the spot.
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James 4:00PM (11/16/2006)
I would have to say it does borrow heavily from the Cadillac designs, but the car is not going to win any beauty awards from its overall poor execution. that c-pillar looks so dated, like something from the late 70s or early 80s. I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.
James
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Casey 2:27PM (11/16/2006)
You can't polish a turd, then again...
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Katash 9:24AM (11/19/2006)
Isn't IT based on the early 90's Citroen ZX ??
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Ryan 2:34PM (11/16/2006)
"Fake it till you make it: Chinese Cadillac clone"
-I wonder which one will last longer?
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Pitcrew 2:34PM (11/16/2006)
idiot................
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Aunt Jemima 2:50PM (11/16/2006)
why is it the wheels on Chinese cars are disproportionate to the bodies they are carrying around?
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Paul 3:07PM (11/16/2006)
it is probably better made than the american made original
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dave 3:22PM (11/16/2006)
Would I be right in thinking the doors are from the early nineties Citroen ZX? I think that was a relatively popular car in China at one time.
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Steve 3:24PM (11/16/2006)
Paul (#5 above), not everything in America is garbage, and not all companies are trying to rip you off... contrary to your college professors' brainwashing. If you you like Chinese quality so much, why not move there?
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samuel 3:44PM (11/16/2006)
I agree with # 7. We have a mob mentality at play here that would be amusing if it wasn't so disturbing. It never fails. Any opportunity they get, the mindless American haters ooze out of the woodwork. Never mind that Cadillac now rivals Lexus in quality and easily surpasses Mercedes, the American haters will not miss an opportunity to spew their hatred.
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Jay 5:08PM (11/16/2006)
Welcome to 1995
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Alain 3:32PM (11/16/2006)
Typical oriental move, copy the West and still make an inferior product.
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Phil 4:44PM (11/16/2006)
Paul, here's a guarantee. Having spoken to dozens of Chinese about the car market there, the metalforming and adherance to quality standards of the domestic brands are LAUGHABLE compared to established global players OLD technology.
And GM's old technolgy surpassed VW for #1 in that country. Trust me, they know the Japanese have supremacy in reliabilty, and know the Europeans are more exciting and durable, but GM builds what Chinese people want instead of forcing pure clones down their throat. Now that Cadillac is big there, we see the natural results!
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MC 3:57PM (11/16/2006)
Alain:
using the word "oriental" to describe Asian people is very politically incorrect and makes you sound just plain stupid.
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Hamud 3:55PM (11/16/2006)
Man, they might be inspired on Audi and Cadi cars, but hell, these cars are ugly.
From the ground clearance one could say they are car-like SUVs. If the Cadillac-like one has 15" wheels then the bottom of the car is almost 10" from the ground. O_O
Ahh, forgot to say, ridiculous wheel-base.
POS.
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Misaniovent 4:03PM (11/16/2006)
Looks like a Seville.
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Alain 4:05PM (11/16/2006)
#11 What is more important here on Autoblog? To be politically-correct or to be spot-on in terms of commentary? I'll opt for the latter. Screw anyone who choses to be offended.
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chuckie 4:28PM (11/16/2006)
In 1973 I was working at the GM Noise & Vibration Lab in Milford as a durability Project Engineer. Out in the bay someone had brought in the 1st Honda Civic in the states. Yes it was much smaller than our Vega and sold for more money. What was amazing to me was its astounding quality of panel fit and paint.
I said to the building boss "Look at this car, it can not be an assembly line vehicle, it is near perfect."
He answered, "No it did come off a line."
I answered him "We are in trouble down the road."
He replied, "It is too small for Americans, besides they can't be making an money on it."
Being a motorcycle type, I told him what Honda had done with that product line, introducing the 50cc, then stepping up 1 model at a time to the 750cc 4, cementing customer loyalty along the way. He shrugged his
shoulders and walked away. After 4 more years of witnessing GM incompetence, I resigned my position at GM not wishing to risk my pension in GM mis-management.
It was not the workers that sunk the domestic auto industry, it was the clueless unions, & cloned middle management.
So I just shrug my shoulders and say, "Oh well, they did themselves in."
Now we have a low paid workforce with state-of-the-art tooling and no tariffs about to enter the market place, what do you think is ging to happen?
Hello McFly!!!
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Ian 4:31PM (11/16/2006)
Is not China part of the Orient? Is it PI to call someone from France European? Instead of refering to them as Oriental perhaps it would be more accurate to refer to them as communist slavers and theives considering the amount of IP they just outright steal from the rest of the world, manufacture in labor camps and re-sell as their own.
On topic: Those cars look like ass. The folks in China should try something original. After all, Korea has the market on cloning cars.
Caddy quality rocks. Anyone who states otherwise is either an ignorant fool or just stepped out of a time portal from 1981.
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