from www.freep.com

AUTO INDUSTRY REPORT: GM unit suing Chery

May 10, 2005

Automaker GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co. is suing Chinese carmaker Chery Automobile Co. for allegedly copying one of its vehicles, according to a newspaper report.

GM Daewoo is seeking 80 million yuan ($9.7 million) in compensation, alleging Chery's QQ minicar copied its Daewoo Matiz and Spark brands, which Chery denies, the China Daily reported.

The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court confirmed Sunday it accepted a lawsuit filed by GM Daewoo against Chery, according to the China Daily.

GM Daewoo initially sued Chery in December in Shanghai but the defendant objected on jurisdictional grounds, leading the Supreme People's Court to appoint the Beijing-based court to handle the case, the report said.

The Matiz was launched in the South Korean market in 1998, according to the bill of indictment, the paper says.

GM Daewoo, an Inchon, South Korea, unit of Detroit-based General Motors Corp., authorized Shanghai Automotive Co. to produce and sell the Spark in China in 2003 based on the Matiz's design and technology, the paper reports.

GM Daewoo also alleges Chery used a camouflaged Matiz car to pass tests and obtain authorization from the government to produce and sell QQs.

 

The Chery QQ costs around $3,700. The Chevrolet Spark costs $8,000 or more than twice as much.

Now I know GM's "intellectual property rights" have been violated, but I also think that GM has been making indecently large profits from Chinese consumers. GM recently cut the price of the Chinese-built Buick Regal from $40,000 to $35,000. Yes, they had the audacity to charge $40k for a Buick Regal.

GM should tread lightly in China. They should worry less about the "piracy" of an old and unimpressive Daewoo minicar and more about the potential consumer backlash against their own profiteering ways.

 

I read recently that if the Chinese market bought the real versions of American goods, rather than illegal Chinese copies (I speak of counterfeits, not legal Chinese copys), the trade deficit we have with China would be null.

Now, I understand that's about as close to happening in reality as Katie Holmes coming to marry me tommorow, but it would be nice if the ChiComs would maybe crack down some more on their rather extensive counterfeit industry.

 

Do you know who is responsible for that counterfiet industry?
Ill give ya a hint starts with P and ends with an A It's a 3 letter acronym.

 

im wondering what the PTA has to do with this...

 

 

Starts with P, ends with A.....
Ah, I think I get it. Don't worry, the next time I come across a professional golfer, I'll kick him in the nuts and say "thanks for ruining the country bastard!"

 

funny ****.
But what I was getting at was this- The PLA (People's Liberation Army, China's military) controls a huge chunk of the Chinese counterfieting industry. Those "Asian Collecters Edition" DVD sets of [insert random TV series or movie] are courtesy of the PLA's counterfieting operations. I wouldnt be suprized if Chery is somehow connected with the PLA.

 

There is a severe reduction in pricing when there's no engineering costs, don't you think?

Take DVD movies as an example... a pirate has no costs of production, distribution to theaters, actor fees,...

Very similar deal with any manufactured product.

Pirated car parts which are bogus are an issue as well.

I think the Chinese buyer has the sense to know how they want to spend their money.

 

 

I don't think that the "engineering costs" of a second-hand Daewoo design amount to $4,300/unit. Remember, GM bought Daewoo for a near-liquidation value "fire sale" price. My best guess is that the original design and engineering costs of the Daewoo Matiz (a.k.a. Chevy Spark) were written off when Daewoo originally became insolvent - long before GM arrived on the scene.

 

****, only $9 million?????

Should have sued those bastards for $9 BILLION, or whatever amount of money it would take to run them out of business. Hopefully Chery will make some horrible quality automobiles and people will see why they cost 1/2 as much, and then they quit buying them. Then the company will go bankrupt. Maybe this is GM's logic. Or they didn't want to upset the Chinese buying public by running their company into the ground.

 

more like they didint want to **** off the chinese government

 

GM had roughly $251 million invested in Daewoo prior to the approx $400 million buyout. Since then $1 billion in product developement and approx $2 billion slated.

If a company does not defend it's patents and intellectual properties the suppliers and others associated stand to lose money and that's possible cause for action against the company for not using due diligence . . .

The Matiz has been a very big seller in some portions of the planet... Not sur of the exac numbers but an over 1.3 million unit sales since 1998...

$9.7 million... not much money. @ $4300 a car bucks that's approx 2255 cars...