jpd80 Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 (edited) LINK First Automotive Works, Volkswagen’s Chinese partner, is copying Golf and Polo transmissions and engines and installing them in its own vehicle, the German automaker alleges. FAW’s new Besturn B50, a model that’s set to go on sale in China and Russia, uses a near exact replica of VW’s MQ200 transmission and a small car engine shared with the Chinese-market Golf and Polo. According to VW, FAW’s engineers made miniscule dimensional changes to the engine and transmission, a move that the German automaker says violates its patent rights. According to Germany’s Handelsblatt business paper, VW claims that some of FAW’s upper management, including CEO Xu Jianyi, are involved in the technology plagiarization. “This is simply a disaster,” a VW representative told the newspaper. VW and FAW have a long-standing joint-venture that dates back more than two decades, a move that has made the German automaker the biggest foreign brand in the Chinese new car market. In China, foreign brands must partner with a domestic firm under the Asian country’s business laws. FAW has stated that it will respond to the allegations soon. “FAW is aware of the report and is paying high attention to the case because it is related to the cooperation between the two partners,” FAW spokeswoman Shao Xin told the Global Times. Oh dear, the Germans won't be happy.... "No, we're not copying your engines and transmissions...why would we do that?" Edited July 31, 2012 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SVTCobra Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 I am guessing this is only the beginning... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 I am guessing this is only the beginning... How bold is that, copy your business partner.s power train and think they won't notice? Something tells me the Chinese either have no idea about the concept of intellectual property, or they just don't care.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Culturally, I'd say it's comparable to the way the US public refuses to get upset about IP piracy via P2P networks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabfordeb Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 How bold is that, copy your business partner.s power train and think they won't notice? Something tells me the Chinese either have no idea about the concept of intellectual property, or they just don't care.. i'd say they don't care. this has been going on forever in lots of industries with asian partners. we had a korean partner years ago that we used for fabrication since their prices were so low, then they raised their prices so it didn't pay to use them as much, then they built the product themselves. this was in the 1980's - nature of doing business over there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.