How do you say 'lazy designers' in Chinese? Coolbear.
Great Wall Automobile Xiong debuted this, the Coolbear, last week in China, proving, once again, that originality is a scarce commodity when it comes to Chinese car design.
Although an argument could be made that it's hard to make a rolling box not look like a Scion xB, it would seem that Great Wall didn't even try. We suspect the designers made charcoal etchings of everything from the belt-line to the c-pillar, brought them back to the office, handed them to the fabricating team, then went out for a cool beer. Nice logo, though.
More shots are available at our sibling site, Autoblog Chinese.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gav 11:49AM (11/20/2006)
Google Translate
lazy designers = 懒惰设计师
How you say it, I have no idea.
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Hamud 11:50AM (11/20/2006)
They already showed their lack of "creativity" or sense of ridiculous at designing cars with the DongFeng D120 (http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/18/beijing-auto-show-dongfeng-d120/) thing (sorry but I can't name this as a car), so they better keep cloning, at least it doesn't hurts my eyes.
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vince 9:13PM (11/23/2006)
Thats all the chinese do ... they are rip-off artists!
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Duder318is 2:00PM (11/20/2006)
What is up with all of these Chinese manufacturer blogs?!
These cars are hideous
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Bill 11:58AM (11/20/2006)
A nation of plagarists.
CD's, software, cars, everything...
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Mike 12:04PM (11/20/2006)
There was nothing original about the Xob anyway. You can't copyright or patent basic shapes.
What a joke.
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rwdmtparkingonly 12:04PM (11/20/2006)
I'm guessing they partnered with Toyota on this, although Daewoo has had designs outright stolen.
The front clip with will make an interesting body kit for US xB owners if someone imports it.
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curtis 12:18PM (11/20/2006)
This isn't even report worthy. Calling this a copy of the xB is lame, that's like calling the xB a copy of the bB... All three are the same car, all three designed by Toyota. This wasn't supposed to be a new original design; it is a rebadged xB for china. And for all fairness, the bB was a blatant rip off of the Chevy Astro, everybody knows that.
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PJ 1:29PM (11/20/2006)
"...a blatant rip off of the Chevy Astro, everybody knows that."
Except for the pre-existing unibody platform, and the FWD, and the four-cylinder/five-speed drivetrain, and the semi-independent rear suspension, and the 30% smaller dimensions. But otherwise, yeah, they're identical :-)
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Ben 12:34PM (11/20/2006)
My question is why do they copy ugly cars? Copy Mercedes or Porsche, and THEN sell them for 1/3 the price.
If your going to copy, copy the best.
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Rob @ School 2:56PM (12/04/2006)
Screw china.
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PJ 2:13PM (11/20/2006)
^^ It's the Beijing Auto Show this/last week.
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Andy 2:45PM (11/20/2006)
Toyota spent its early years building knock-offs of the Chrysler Airflow.
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PitBit 3:31PM (11/20/2006)
I really, really hope this is a *natural* evolution of the automobile industry in China. And eventually, they'll start designing original/beautiful cars or import designers from the outside. This is almost a joke. Though just to be fair... I'm still scratching my head with the Chevrolet HHR - PT Cruiser wannabe. :|
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Maize.Y 8:41AM (11/24/2006)
Anyway...time, they just need more time to think about what is the original design...they still young and lack of experience and confidence. compare Chinese automotive with Ford or GM ro DMC, they just a baby , and baby always copy what adult do .
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PJ 2:43PM (11/21/2006)
"Screw china."
"Thats all the chinese do ... they are rip-off artists!"
^ Typed on a Chinese-built computer, while wearing clothes manufactured in a Chinese factory, by the light of a Chinese-built desk lamp, listening to music on a Chinese-built stereo, et cetera...
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