click above image to view all the Chinese Transformers
Chinese automakers are known for making knockoffs off models sold elsewhere in the world, so does it surprise you one has taken to creating knockoffs of our beloved Transformers? To be fair, the Transformers franchise traces its roots back to Japanese culture (check out the current issue of Wired for a great lineage article), but considering the new movie based on the successful toy line was directed by America's biggest blow-em-up director, Michael Bay, one could argue the league of robots in disguise is as American as apple pie.
Great Wall has swiped the marketing campaign currently employed by General Motors and is showing off its "own" vehicles in robot mode, complete with ridiculous profiles that indicate each characters name, with what celebrity it most identifies, favorite movie, singer and motto. Florida (shown above), for instance, stands 3.91 meters tall when transformed from its four-wheel identity, which is a Toyota knock off. It identifies most with Paris Hilton, loves the movie "Mission Impossible", listening to Justin Timberlake and cries out "C'est la vie!" when entering battle. Whatever. Other characters include Perry, i7 and Coolbear, the latter of which is a dead ringer for the new Scion xB.
Considering the track record of Chinese cars when they encounter collisions on public roads, should we expect these Chinese Transformers to crumple under their own weight when erect and collapse into a mangled mess of steel and blown air bags? These Chinabots aren't worthy enough to carry one of Optimus Prime's spare tires.
Check out the crazy profiles by clicking the Read link, and view each character in our gallery below.
[Source: Autoblog Chinese]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
matt @ Jul 3rd 2007 4:48PM
The car identifies with Paris Hilton? Everyone gets a ride.
J.Crew @ Jul 3rd 2007 5:04PM
#1... LOFL! Apparently it will drink and drive on its own as well...
On a serious note... this Chinese knock off crap is getting
out of control. I don't think they have ever had an original idea of their own.
jasonw @ Jul 3rd 2007 5:04PM
Hmm, knock-offs or not, they look a helluva lot more like 'real' Transformers (ie: the G1 cartoon I grew up with) than Bay's "alien robots" do.
Andy @ Jul 3rd 2007 11:43PM
Sorry, I have to go with Bay's aliens. The G1 animation (excluding the movie) was lousy.
whofan @ Jul 3rd 2007 5:05PM
All the import guys will embrace the Chinese automakers when they arrive in America, for have the foresight to build a car just like Toyota for thousands less. They then will use this as another dig at the domestic makes for not getting it right. Maybe the Chinese know how stupid some of us are.
tim d @ Jul 3rd 2007 5:25PM
So do the ads actually say "some soccer team's logo"?
The FedEx Man @ Jul 3rd 2007 5:27PM
Hang on a minute, although this is a blatant copy I can't help thinking GM borrowed (I don't want to say copyed because it probably has more to do with the Transformers film) the idea from Citreon, who have been using a man/car transformer thing (I think it was ice skating last time) to advertise their cars in Europe.
jasonw @ Jul 3rd 2007 5:40PM
In the GM ads I've seen, you only see the very end of the 'transformation' back into vehicle mode. The Citroen ads I've seen show the robot mode through most of the ad and it only transforms to vehicle mode at the very end. Citroen's 'transformers' look better than Bay's too, haha.
(yeah, I'm no fan of Bay's robot designs, but I'm still going to see the movie).
bmoredlj @ Jul 3rd 2007 5:41PM
The bottom line is, GM has LEGAL AUTHORITY and PERMISSION to use the Transformers in their ads. Fortunately though, the Great Wall LEGALAUTHORITEE and Great Wall PurrMISSION models have been discontinued.
Jonathan Fung @ Jul 3rd 2007 5:59PM
"Considering the track record of Chinese cars when they encounter collisions on public roads..." ~John Neff
Then it's a good thing that cars in China don't crash very often. They drive amazingly well there, and actually yield to other drivers, since yielding is cheaper than fixing a huge dent.
Mike I @ Jul 4th 2007 2:57AM
Do you have any idea what you're talking about? I have had several friends say that accidents in China are extremely common. Also, since vehicles have the right away in China, when a vehicle runs you over, it's your fault. I have never even heard of someone saying that people drive well in China, and about half of my Chinese friends absolutely love their country.
Jonathan Fung @ Jul 4th 2007 6:05AM
Mike I,
I spent the past three weeks visiting all different parts of China. I don't claim to be an expert after only three weeks, but from our tour buses, we saw a LOT of road, a LOT of cars, and a LOT of Chinese driving. And in those three weeks of constant touring, I did not see a single car crash. And trust me, after several near collisions with our tour bus, I was watching VERY carefully. In fact, I can count the number of cars which had dents on them on a single hand. Either Chinese law forces drivers to remove dents, or they just don't crash very often.
1) Yes, I'm willing to bet there is a high NUMBER of accidents in China, just due to the fact that their population is so huge. But I also wouldn't be surprised to find that they have a lower ratio of crashes to drivers.
2) Yes, vehicles have the right of way in China. It's common sense that you don't try to compete with a more massive object for dominance of the road. But drivers in China are far more attentive than ones in the US. If a clueless pedestrian gets in the way, the driver in China, while angry, will most likely see the pedestrian and attempt to stop.
3) And now, you have heard of someone who says that people drive well in China. They drive dangerously. But they drive well.
tekdemon @ Jul 5th 2007 9:15AM
Jonathan, you're an idiot. China has the highest per-driver accident fatality rate in the entire world. Just because you didn't see a crash while you were there doesn't mean cars don't crash. Most days in NYC I don't see a crash, but I sure as hell don't go around telling people NYC drivers never get into accidents, lol.
Oh, and I've been to China, and the drivers were all lunatics.
Juan @ Jul 3rd 2007 6:06PM
"It identifies most with Paris Hilton, loves the movie "Mission Impossible", listening to Justin Timberlake and cries out "C'est la vie!" when entering battle."
Proving Chinese cars are tasteless in just one sentence.
Rocket Punch @ Jul 3rd 2007 7:09PM
Copying anything from GM would be a mistake. LOL.
Albert @ Jul 3rd 2007 7:45PM
Interesting to see that these are simply body panels photoshopped over the Takara Binaltech (aka Hasbro Alternators)Transformer toys.
r129 @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:49PM
This doesn't really have anything to do with Chinese Tranformers knock-offs, but... Am I the only one who's bothered every time I see that Chevy commercial where they show a yellow Cobalt, it gets crushed, and then transforms into a yellow previous-generation Malibu?
Carlos @ Jul 3rd 2007 9:34PM
Here we go again with the knock offs. I feel sorry for the Chinese crapbot pictured, all one has to do is shoot his knees out and he'll go down like the piece of scrap he is. and I also smell one hell of a lawsuit from Toyota for violating their copyrights, the company thats responsible for Transformers for violating its copyrights, and while we are at it lets not forget Lexus, General motors, and everyone else that has had their design copyrights violated. If any accountants post here lets see how much this will dent their already fickle pocketbooks
esem @ Jul 4th 2007 1:50AM
Citroen has already the third version of C4 promo (ice skating was second), transforming into robot, dancing and transforming back into vehicle. At Paris auto show they had an old DS in limited transformer version - but in real hardware.
Also in Serbia one designer team made transformer version of Yugo (you remember Yugo?) but only for fun/exercise.
Citroen C4 transformer promo got few awards and a lot of praises, therefore is quite understandable why GM copied whole thing. Chinese are not worse - for a change.
Luis @ Jul 4th 2007 5:08AM
The American transformers would wipe the floor with these Chinese knockoffs kinda like the BS6 crash test.