Quote:
Originally Posted by matter
If you are going to call out Japanese manufacturers as copy & cheats, you will need to lump in your Ohlins into that category too. Researching, reverse engineering and improving on a design does not make you a cheater. EVERY auto manufacturer buys cars from others to break it down and get "inspiration" for other ideas. Being first to do so doesn't make you any better than the next person do it.
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Japaneses were famous for that, they buy their competitor's cars and dismantle everything ( most of the companies do that anyway ). Chinese, Korean, Indian, Japanese are famous for inspection and spying prototypes and pre production cars. One of my friends worked few times at the Geneva Auto show and he told how creative spies are. One was disguised as an old man and try to touch the paint of a prototype with a walking stick lol. He was apparently a spy. The best copy and paste is the Hyundai Genesis basically a Mercedes S class and the Dahatsu Gino which is a Mini.
You can buy a Renault Twizy and Bugatti in Canada ( yes it's French, Molsheim is still in France but the engine is made in Germany and many parts are from the VAG group). Peugeot and Citroen want to come back but they need to make bigger engines and more SUV to make money in North America. Few Nissans have Renault's engine and plateform, Renault sell diesel engines to Mercedes and the Smart is basically a Renault Twingo. Some small Fiat and Dodge mini van share the same plateform than Peugeot and Citroen vehicles too.