It shouldn’t come as any surprise, but somehow, we’re surprised anyway. China produces over half of the world’s manufactured goods, but in recent years, with increased wealth and production capabilities, manufacturers have gotten a little cheeky. In a country where international copyright law seems to be misconstrued as “right-to-copy” law, nothing is off limits. No longer just a market of poor imitations of designer labels, pirated copies of DVDs and the like are old news.
If you don’t want to shell out the big bucks for an iPhone, you can just get a HiPhone; not sure about an iPad? Spend less and try an APad. Google, which left China recently over several conflicts, has been replaced with Goojje. So, when we heard that China has built a knock off of the Ford F-150, the best selling truck in America since Gerald Ford was in office, well, we probably should have seen it coming.
The Chinese version, the JAC 43R pickup, is made to look exactly like Ford’s perennial best-seller, and like most other things, they managed to get the look and feel part pretty close. The headlights are shaped in the same manner, and the badge is even a blue oval! As we only have seen the spy shots, we’re not sure what engine options may be used. Ford currently offers a 3.5-liter V-6 as an entry-level engine, and at the top of the range is a 5.0-liter V-8. Car News China speculates the F-150 imitator will debut at the Beijing Auto Show in April. You can bet Ford execs will be on hand, feathers ruffled. While the car would never get the green light for the U.S. market, smaller markets more concerned with price such as Africa and South America could be the first to receive the pickup outside of China.
Source: Car News China
