Volkswagen Beetle blatantly cloned by Chinese manufacturer changes name after great controversy and will have final version in September

Multinational Volkswagen is not at all satisfied with the electric copy of the Beetle shamelessly made by Great Wall Motors

The Chinese industry has not yet abandoned some old habits, and the multinational Volkswagen was not at all flattered by the electric car manufacturer ORA, which is part of the Great Wall Motors group. The brand presented a clone of the Beetle at the Shanghai Motor Show. Named at the time ORA Punk Cat, the vehicle has the same traits as the iconic VW car. Even after this great controversy announced by us at Click Petróleo e Gás in April this year, the Chinese automaker is firm in its decision to launch the clone of the iconic Volkswagen Beetle, the former Punk Cat.

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Named now Ballet Cat, the electric clone of the iconic Volkswagen Beetle will be shown in more detail at the Chengdu Motor Show, which takes place on the 29th of August.

When looking at the images, you can see that it has very similar lines to the Beetle – not to say that it blatantly copied it – not to mention the interior, equipped with a steering wheel and finishing similar to the old Bizando. The difference, in addition to the entire equipment package, which must be robust, is the electric motorization, already confirmed by Great Wall.

Despite the retro footprint, the interior of the Ballet Cat offers a multimedia screen and cantilevered center console. But the creation of this car with a “time machine feeling”, as ORA said, did not please Volkswagen at all.

Volkswagen intends to take legal action against Ballet Cat

If it reaches the market, however, the Chinese “electric Beetle” must face legal problems. This is because Volkswagen is already considering investigating whether there is plagiarism in the development of the project since the appearance of another Beetle clone, the Punk Cat, revealed by Great Wall in April at the Shanghai Motor Show, and which looks more similar to the modern Beetle. , which had its production ended in 2019, in Germany.

Don't expect to see a Beetle like this for the price of an electric model from JAC Motors, for example. The car will be expensive, but under Chinese rules, it should not exceed 300.000 yuan or R$244,9, the ceiling for electric car subsidies there.

Even models that seek to rival Tesla, such as NIO's ET7, prices start below that level. Would you buy this Electric Beetle from Great Wall?

It is not the first time that the Chinese have created clones

As if that weren't enough, another Chinese automaker, SongSang Motors, made a clone of the iconic Kombi, will it be a “sleeve cloth”? Unlike the original model manufactured by the German automaker Volkswagen, the horn was front and more prominent and at the back the help nuematic stuck externally, located right in the center. The SS Summer, a van with a retro design clearly based on the Volkswagen Kombi or Type 2, as seen below.

The clone of the iconic Kombi is almost 5 meters long and adds the possibility of raising the height of the interior through the concept of a removable roof, as was done in the old VW Kombi equipped by Westfalia. Because when it came to copying, the Chinese had it complete.

Its engine is hybrid and is provided by an electric propellant and another turbocharged 1,5 liter turbocharger, with which it reaches a combined power of 320 hp, with a range of 550 km (according to the manufacturer).

This “beauty” is not cheap for western pockets: is priced at 288 yuan (about Rs 45), and the first deliveries of this model will be made in 2022.

Volkswagen was not the only "hostage" of the Chinese, the automaker SongSang Motors also cloned the first generation Chevrolet Corvette in the face

It is not the first time that SongSang Motors has ventured into a copy, last year it unveiled at the Beijing Motor Show the SS Dolphin model that is blatantly a copy of the first generation Chevrolet Corvette.

Many saw it as a kind of tribute, bringing an iconic model to this time, but with an electric motor.