Chinese copycat of Maruti Jimny on sale, but with a difference

Chinese automobile manufacturer Baojun, owned by SAIC has copied the Suzuki Jimny or the Suzuki Hustler, which is also based on the Jimny.

SAIC is the parent company of brands like MG Motor India, which sells cars like Hector, Gloster and Astor in India.

However, the heavily inspired Baojun Yep has a stark difference compared to the Jimny when it comes to the powertrain. The Baojun Joy is an all-electric vehicle.

As per a Cartoq report, while Suzuki Jimny in Indian market will only come with a 1.5-litre petrol engine with manual as well as an automatic transmission, there is no Internal Combustion Engine or ICE in its Chinese copy.

The technical specifications of the car are not available on the public websites yet, except for its certified range, which is 303 km on a full charge.

Chinese manufacturers don’t shy away from introducing copied versions of famous brands in their market. There are a few manufacturers which have been served with court cases.

While the Chinese automobile market is quite restrictive and does not allow easy access to foreign manufacturers, home-grown manufacturers in China have always come up with designs heavily based on popular models.

Earlier in 2016, Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover filed a case against Jiangling. In 2019, the Chinese court found the Chinese manufacturer guilty of selling a knockoff of Land Rover Range Rover Evoque.

The Chinese automobile industry even copies motorcycle designs and sells them for cheap in countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh. There are cloned versions of the Bajaj Pulsar, KTM Duke, Yamaha R3, Kawasaki Ninja and many others.