Zotye Brushes Off Porsche, Will Debut SR8 Macan Copy At China Auto Show

China’s Zotye may have changed the name of their upcoming SUV from T700 to SR8, but everything else we scoffed about their Porsche Macan clone remains, with the company to debut the car at the Beijing auto show on April 25.

A gauche le Zotye SR8 chinois, à droite le Porsche Macan : cherchez l'erreur

In fact, it’s much worse than we originally thought when we first laid eyes on the SR8 last summer through some studio shots that only showed the exterior of the prototype.

New images from China give us a first glimpse at the interior, and shockingly, Zotye audaciously ripped off the Macan’s cabin too, from the steering wheel design and trim, to the multi-button lower center console and even the clock on top of the dash!

Not that we should be surprised, but until now, Chinese clones usually refrained from copying the designs of both the interior and exterior from the same car. Apparently, the absence of any meaningful response from Western carmakers has led companies like Zotye to become even more brazen with their plagiarism.

It’s not that Western companies haven’t repeatedly tried to protect their work in China, but that they’ve been largely and alarmingly unsuccessful in enforcing any intellectual property rights.

There have been numerous disputes between Chinese and Western automakers that led nowhere, as Jaguar Land Rover found out for itself last year when it tried to take “appropriate action” against Jiangling’s Landwind X7 for “closely resembling” the Range Rover Evoque. The British company abandoned the effort with JLR chief executive Ralf Speth stating, "There are no laws, there's nothing to protect us, so we have to take it as it is."

Last year, when Porsche was asked about a report from Germany saying it may take legal action against Zotye Automobile, the Stuttgart carmaker declined to comment.

The Zotye SR8 is expected to go on sale in China in the second half of the year priced from around 170,000 yuan ($26,300 / €23,100) or less than a third than the Porsche Macan that starts from 588,000 yuan ($91,000 / €80,000). Power will come from a 190hp 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder sourced from Mitsubishi that can be hooked up to either a five-speed manual or a six-speed dual-clutch transmission.

I discussed in a recent post the emotion I felt when I visualized the last campaign of the cosmetics brand SKII "Marriage Market Takeover".

What is the "Marriage Market"? This is a place where parents show off their daughters who are over 25 years old so that they can find the true love. These young women are seen as a shame by the society and even among their own families as a married woman is the main insurance for grand-fathers and grand-mothers that they will be taken care of when they get retired (as pensions are still almost inexistent in China). The pejorative term exists to design them, "Sheng Nu" which might be translated by "Takeover Women".

Well, story could have ended up like this. But sometimes there are some miracles on the social networks. I was contacted by the person in charge of the digital communication of the brand following my initial post and I was adressed a very kind mail telling me more about the brand's objectives and above all about the destiny of these women deliberately highlighted in this short documentary that sparked a huge amount of attention and conversation online.

For those of my followers that were also removed by this story and want to know more about the fate of these young women, discover three of their individual interviews below by clicking on their image and share it with relatives and friends. 

[HU TING - 35 years - Procurement Department of a Pharmacuetical Company]

[ZHU LI - 36 years - Editor for a Magazine]

[WANG XIAO QI - 27 years - Teach acting in a Kindergarten]

Again, thank you for this initiative and for the supplied information and material. A beautiful illustration that the CSR is not a hollow concept when it comes to defending the cause of women around the world.       

De plus en plus, la mode essaye de représenter la vraie vie. Tommy Hilfiger propose la première ligne de vêtements qui s’adaptent aux handicaps

Chers auditeurs, chers clients, chers visiteurs, 

Vous avez aimé la Conférence "Luxe et Chine: enjeux et perspectives", Parole d'Experts, Printemps des Etudes, animée par Pr Philippe Jourdan et Chunyan Li, Promise Consulting ?

=> Retrouvez les moments forts de cet événément et téléchargez les photos: [FLICKR]

Vous n'avez pas pu être présent, mais vous souhaitez reprendre contact avec nos équipes en vue de planifier votre présence à une prochaine réédition ?

Vous souhaitez discuter de la possibilité de rééditer cette conférence dans vos locaux à vos équipes (en Français ou en Anglais) ?

=> Prenez contact avec Valérie Jourdan (valerie.jourdan@promiseconsultinginc.com ou +33 6-09-31-65-19) pour connaître le planning des prochaines rééditions de cette Conférence sur l'année 2016 ou planifier la possibilité d'animer cette conférence dans vos locaux.

PARIS - Spending on luxury goods by Chinese shoppers abroad fell last month for the first time since such records began in 2010, leading to the worst ever monthly result for the luxury goods industry's tourist sales, retail tax-refund services company Global Blue said on Friday. 

Spending by Chinese tourists in March tumbled 24 per cent, dragged down by a 35 per cent year-on-year drop in Europe, where the Paris and Brussels attacks have kept some tourists away.

A reduction in the price gap with Europe has also lifted spending within China.

"The slowdown in Europe is due to a tougher comparison, the impact of the terrorist strikes and the effect of the introduction of biometric visas, although the overall growth of the Chinese consumer globally has slowed and remains a concern,"Barclays analysts said of the figures.

Global Blue data showed that overall tourist spending on luxury items fell 14 per cent in March after rising 4 per cent in February.

The firm's figures do not include tourism spending in the United States, Hong Kong and Dubai, which do not have value-added tax refund systems.

Luxury goods industry leader LVMH and British luxury fashion brand Burberry both said this week that they had seen a drop in tourist spending in continental Europe.

For some big luxury brands such as Cartier and Louis Vuitton tourists account for more than 50 per cent of customers in certain European markets. Chinese consumers account for almost a third of the global luxury goods market.

After the attacks on Brussels and Paris, LVMH said there had been fewer visitors travelling to Europe "from the East", its term for Russia and Asia. Burberry added that tough market conditions would hit profit in the year ahead.

Global Blue said Russian tourist spending fell 22 per cent last month, weighed on by a drop in the value of the rouble and the weak home economy which has been hit by lower oil prices and continuing international sanctions over Ukraine.

Last week consultancy Bain & Co forecast that the luxury goods market would reach a low point this year, due to lower levels of tourists travelling to Europe, depressed trading in Hong Kong, weaker demand in China and a relatively subdued US market.

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K-pop idols (Korean celebrities) appear to have an effect on the Chinese cosmetics market. As a matter of fact, a research from L2 entitled “The Beauty China: The Rise of Korean Brands” highlights the huge impact that South Korean beauty products have on this market in China – which is 126% higher than last year – and the fact that these products are now ¼ of those imported to China, mostly online.

This skyrocketing trend can be explained by the significant impact of Korean celebrities and K-pop culture on China’s TV. This is illustrated on Kering as being a “bridge between the Chinese and western cultures” and especially on western hobbies, promoted through Korean series.

Source : Luxury Daily - China Daily - Kering

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