China continues to dominate the world of automotive cloning and yet another example of absurd copying of a product has appeared on the website of Weibo, a Chinese social network.
There, a mini electric car appeared with the style of the Toyota Land Cruiser Series 300, both at the front, with LED headlights with LED daytime running lights similar to those of the SUV with a chassis of stringers.
The little one is from a brand called Kuluze and the name was not revealed, but the product can be called a fake Land Cruiser, since the rear also imitates the Toyota’s taillights.
But these are from the Lexus LC300 and the bumper also refers to the Japanese product in style.
The Kuluze is a low-speed electric vehicle (LSEV) car, which is required to drive at a speed limit of 45 km/h and this ensures that people without a driving license can drive it.
This LSEV has four doors and can carry up to four people, using either lead-acid or lithium batteries.
Ranges generally range from 80 to 150 km, with prices too low to cater to low-income Chinese buyers.
These vehicles are still successful in smaller cities and far from the big centers of the country.
For Toyota, this cheap imitation of the Land Cruiser 300 is one more in the long list of copied, cloned and “inspired” cars from the Japanese brand, all of which are made in China.
From small LSEV-type urban cars and even with motorcycle engines to complete cars, with all the structure to the point where even the logo is changed, indicating that it is an original car.
The most notorious is the BYD F3, a complete clone of the 8th generation Corolla, which in Egypt had some circulating with a Toyota logo, placed by the owners…
In any case, today Toyota and BYD are partners in Denza and go much further in joint business.
Anyway, not every copy ends up in a lawsuit and in the case of Kuluze, Toyota is unlikely to go after it, after all, disputing it in Chinese court is not easy at all…