Chinese cars are really serious in their development and market penetration here in the Philippines... Last week we went at World Trade Center where different China products are featured and most of the products that really amazes me are their new vehicles...
New entry brands like LIFAN, JINBEI, FAW, GEELY are featured aside from others like CHERY, CHANA, JAC, FOTON brands...
The cars are really amazing.. given that they are "NEW" in the market, they have "safety features" what most known brands do not include in their vehicles sold here in the philippines...like standard ABS, EBD and airbags...
Brands like Chery offered their QQ models with AMT or automatic manual transmission and the brand LIFAN offered their cars with ACS or automatic clutch system where the shifting pattern is the same with a manual transmission minus the clutch pedal.. clutch is operated electronically..
Although their cars are still not that refined compared to Japanese and Korean cars, still they offer their cars with a reasonable tag price considering the added safety features.
Interiors are made of very cheap cheap plastics with noticeable excess plastic materials. Very thin door handles that feels like will break if you apply a little more force in opening..and most of their doors are not in proper alignment causing noise during closing and sometimes you need to slam it to properly latch..
You cannot really ignore that some models are somewhat copycat of some known Japanese cars and Germans cars.. You can see it in their steering wheels, car name, front fascia and tail lights that somewhat resembles a BMW sedan, RAV4, HIACE, and Audi..
Here is an example a JINBEI van with a name HAISE sounds like Toyota HI-ACE just pronounced faster -- HAISE!!
The brochure boast that it has some Toyota components, and the Mold and press came from toyota.. even the interior and dashboards are an exact replica from toyota hi-ace only the quality of materials used seems to be cheap.. The cars and vans are good i just don't like the names they used that "sounds like" from known brands (eg NOKIA - NOKLA ; HIACE - HAISE)
Well this is a good sign that these cars will evolve and eventually will offer great products with their own design.. Chinese cars right now are in the exact position where KIA and HYUNDAI started 20 years ago... The same with kia besta that is an exact replica of a mazda power van and hyundai grace that is an exact replica of mitsubishi delica..
Korean brands where supported by their government in the technology transfer and development, same with Chinese government developing their car industry I'm just sad that we are left with nothing but kuligligs....![]()




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