China's Hautai reportedly readying Bentley Continental knockoff
Huatai Concept - Click above for a gallery
Hot on the heels of Geely's "this is not a Rolls-Royce Phantom" GE, Chinese automaker Hautai is apparently busy working on its own new luxury vehicle, one that would appear to borrow liberally from the Bentley Boys. Huatai Automobile Group, based in Beijing, specializes in SUVs, so this model would represent something of a marked departure for them. HAG reportedly has the capacity to build 200,000 vehicles annually, and they have R&D centers in China, South Korea, and Germany. Last month, the private automaker reported sales up nearly 150 percent from last year.
Still unnamed (allow us to suggest: "This is not a Bentley Continental"), the four-door detailed in these images offers more than a striking resemblance to Bentley's admittedly comely Flying Spur. At the moment, details about the new sedan are about as shallow as the depth of the designers who have penned it, but we'll have more details for you as they become available.
Gallery: Huatai "Continental GT"
Source: ChinaCarTimes | Images: Che168]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mike 3:25PM (5/12/2009)
Look an Asian country (especially China) is knocking off a luxury car.
Big news there.
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PJ 4:33PM (5/12/2009)
At least it's a pretty good knockoff, judging by the sketches.
genepro11 4:16PM (5/12/2009)
Chinese (including Taiwanese) are responsible for nearly 99% of all the pirated products all over the world...
Jake 5:56PM (5/12/2009)
yeah, but it's made entirely of chicken feathers, used news paper, and Tibeten nationalists.
Aki 6:07PM (5/12/2009)
LOL Sektor, and you come across as so sophisticated and worldly with your racist comment.
Preus 3:27PM (5/12/2009)
I'm so close to throwing up..
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Quantumphysics 4:09PM (5/12/2009)
This stupid article ruined my computer cause i spit up milk all over my keyboard when I read this article.
AMcA 9:12PM (5/12/2009)
At first glance, it's better looking than the Spur, which I have never thought was very Bentley-like.
cory 3:30PM (5/12/2009)
fake brand name watches and hand-bags so it is a logical move to expensive cars. Go China...
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John 3:31PM (5/12/2009)
"HAG reportedly has the capacity to build 200,000 vehicles annually, and they have R&D centers in China, South Korea, and Germany."
Chinese R&D = Receive & Duplicate
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mk3 3:32PM (5/12/2009)
No please...just don't.
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Venom 3:40PM (5/12/2009)
This crap needs to stop.
These Chinese have no respect for other peoples time and money spent to develop products.
If the rest of the world had balls they would pull their plants and businesses out of there, but we all know they don't.
This is disgusting.
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JDM Life 3:41PM (5/12/2009)
Sweet jesus.....when will it end....
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bakka 4:21PM (5/12/2009)
It will end when consumerism ends.
JZeke 5:57PM (5/12/2009)
True!
Jack 3:44PM (5/12/2009)
"I can believe it's not butter!....I mean Bentley"
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300C 3:45PM (5/12/2009)
The first two pictures have wheels that are copied and pasted from the 04 300C 'Concept'
http://www.modernracer.com/features/ny2003pics/ny2003pic6.jpg
and pic 3 features wheels from what appear to be an Audi product, possibly A8. Anyways, this is such a blatant ripoff, the Chinese need to be ashamed of themselves, but apprantly they don't as they continue to do such idiotic things. If they want to be taken seriously from an automotive viewpoint (it will be years before they are), they need originality in their designs!!
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Minny 9:19PM (5/12/2009)
This is why you don't do business, or move production to China. They have no originality, nor do they have a sense of personal property. Mainly, the Chinese citizen literally have no real sense of personal ownership, so it's hard for businesses which are run by Chinese citizen to respect this believe [Personal Ownership].
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RPM 3:49PM (5/12/2009)
I know everyone is going to hate me for saying this but, I think the front angle picture looks good. Yes they copied the Bentley grille and Lexus headlights, but wasn't everyone impressed with the Chrysler 300C which also copied Bentley cues?
The Chinese are learning, a lot of their other cars are very original, not all of them are copies anymore, and I think in the near future, they will stop copying all together.
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artso06 4:43PM (5/12/2009)
Can't agree.
The 300C was fresh and new and bold. Sure it is large and angular however it shares almost few characteristics with a Rolls or Bentley. The "cues" that you are talking about are generalizations (large grill, big size, etc...) and are free game to any design because they establish to the consumer a preconceived notion of luxury.
As a designer, I wonder how anyone could put there signature on this and be proud. You can find inspiration and cues from anywhere. However good design turns that inspiration into something new and fresh. But apparently the Chinese think it means photo copy....................................this is just a disgrace