It has been a long standing opinion and practice around the globe, but particularly in China, that duplication, adaptation, and down-right replication of designs and other intellectual properties should be expected and considered the sincerest form of flattery. In the 1980’s there was a common saying or belief that the Japanese took the ideas of others and made them better; improved upon them; applied thought and further advanced the technologies of that time. The biggest problem with the Chinese replication of the automobiles of others is that they do not seem to put any thought into it.

The only information provided for what the Beijing Automotive group is calling the B40 (thus the Jeep clone above) is that it has a gasoline fueled engine. Whether it carries the same off-road capabilities as its Trail Rated genetic source is another question.

Beijing Automotive, formerly known as Beijing Jeep, does have a partnership agreement with Chrysler, but the question of how far that partnership goes still lingers. Does their partnership license the replication of the Jeep brand or Wrangler design? With practically zero copyright protection for intellectual property in China there is little that Chrysler is going to do to stop it. Chrysler would more than likely opt to preserve their partnership link to the expanding automotive market that is China than to lose it over some silly copy-cat complaints.

Check out the photo gallery after the leap and see just how adept China has become at breaking out the clone-stamp and serving of a piece of someone else’s pie.

The latest offense poised to join the list of cane-worthy crimes in Malaysia is second offense street racers. The law has yet to hit the legal books of Malaysia and is more directed toward the motorcycle gangs called the Mat Rempits than at what other countries recognize as Street Racers, but a broad interpretation of the new law could leave Raging-Ricers at risk.

The Mat Rempits are motorcycle gangs notorious in Malaysia for racing along country roads, vandalism, rape and other offenses. A first offense conviction for taking part in their high-speed racing is the equivalent of a $1,597 fine (5,000 ringgit), a maximum of 5-years in prison and a 3-year suspension of the guilty’s drivers license. As second offense conviction could result in a minimum 10-year sentence in prison, the US dollar equivalent of $3,178 fine (10,000 ringgit) and 3-strikes of the cane.

To anyone unfamiliar with caning we are not speaking of a this whip or principals paddle. This is an 8-ft cane of knotty bamboo that can cut flesh to the bone. Subjects of caning are sometimes reported to have passed out by the second swipe. The wounds from caning may heal, but the deep scarring of both the flesh and psyche are permanent. Caning as a deterrent, if and when enforced, could certain make breaking the law a far less appealing venture.

The ugly face of progress hides well behind the soot and smog that roosts over China’s cities, big and small, like a Carbon chicken smothering her masked hatch-lings who are choking on their breathes. A recent study by the University of California has granted China the title of being the Number 1 Polluter in the world, a title the United States has carried for quite some time with a particular level of quiet distinction.

At China’s rate of growth any in-roads made by other developed nations to curb their Greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade will have no impact on the global gains of pollution streaming from China’s industrial expansion. Both China and the United Nations are declaring that aid and new technologies should be shared from the other developed nations on how to reduce their noxious emissions. However, to make any progress in the realm of pollution it begins with education.

In the 1970’s the US began to educate its masses, starting with the children, on the ills of littering and pollution. As the 1980’s were dominated by Trickle-Down Economics, so too was the domination of Trickle-Up Education as the young corrected their parents on the dangers and risks of littering and pollution to their future. Ofcourse that is a tough step in a nation like China who’s education comes straight from the top government officials for whom the recognition of negative facts are rarely admitted and never shared.

As the Pontiac GXP Sedan receives praise for its performance and design by among the auto scribes of both print and web, Edmunds InsideLine reports that hope for the GXP Coupe version is still alive… but barely.

Immediately following the passing of the recent CAFE standards fuel mileage bill into law the mighty execs. at Pontiac and GM scrapped the ideas for their performance cars the G8 GXP Sedan, Ute and Coupe like children tossing toys when their mother says “Go to bed.” After some wrangling and since they were obviously far enough ahead on the project to have it out this year, the G8 GXP Sedan version has survived to see production. The Ute model has also been revived and is now working toward seeing the dealership showrooms, as some believe it was Bob Lutz’s affinity for the Ute that got them this far. Now the battle begins for the Coupe, and word is that right now the battle is at a stalemate.

Pontiac’s recent flirtings with the “excitement” that they feel GM and the Government is trying to deprive them are all based on designs from their Aussie GM family member Holden. The G8 is derived from the Holden Monaro and the Holden Commodore Ute, that is Monaro from the cab forward, is the bases for the G8 Ute here in the states. So too the G8 Coupe would find its design inspiration from a recently unveiled design at the Melbourne Auto Show in Australia. It is the Holden Coupe 60 (full gallery to follow) and it is the latest refashioning of the older design last known as the GTO in the states.

The news has come out of AutoBlogGreen that the New York City Council has voted 30 to 20 to make part of Manhattan a congestion free driving area. Fees will be levied upon those who drive into Manhattan south of 60th Street, and even parking meters will be getting in on the increase. The next hurdle for the NYC Council will be getting the Senate to pass the bill “empowering” them to enforce the resolution.

As if the costs of being in the Big Apple were not enough, now the City Council will be looking to cash in on those doing business within its grasp to the tune of $491 million - potentially. The collection of those fees is said to be designated toward improving transit and presumably public transportation as a lot more foot traffic will be making its way into the Congestion Zone of Manhattan.

If anyone has a handle on fee structures it would certainly be the NYC Council as they have discovered a way to tack a fee on everything. Pretty soon your shoes may be taxed for increasing traffic South of 60th Street in Manhattan.

Get a Sneak Peek at the Daily Congestion Free Fee structure after the leap.

The speculation and waiting is finally over as Ford is set to officially announce the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to the Indian motor company Tata. Despite reports of a higher closing bid, as high as $2.65 billion, the final closing amount to be paid by Tata has been revealed by Ford at $2.3 billion.
The news was released Tuesday afternoon on the news wire, but Ford wished to wait until Wednesday morning to make their statement to the public. That was to give them at least a day to break the news to all their employees who may not have access to a radio, TV or the internet.
While some analysts and bloggers express concern for the future of the Jaguar and Land Rover brands under Tata, the sale will surely prove another step toward someday finding the books in the black for Ford. The empire building performed by Ford and GM done in the 90’s and early 2000’s have proven to be too costly and not nearly as profitable as they had hoped. With the conclusion of this sale by Ford there will only remain Mazda and Volvo tagging along with the Ford/Lincoln/Mercury brands.
Tata is a builder of small passenger cars and heavy duty trucks, and happens to be the largest automotive company in India. They have been looking for ways to expand their company outside of their country and may be eyeing Jaguar and Land Rover for that purpose. Their want for Land Rover would also give them the luxury SUV’s to go along with their trucks and that may be an easier marriage into the brand than Jaguar. There are many that worry about Tata’s vision for Jaguar and that the British coach builder might suffer as being forced into the sale as a package deal.

The Polish city of Lodz, weary of its losing efforts in fighting illegal street racers, has capitulated if you will by legalizing street racing in a cordoned off section of the city. In cooperation with local street racing organizers the city will permit racing on the chosen section of town as long as they can help to prevent any non-sanctioned street racing in the rest of the city.

The city’s hope is that by providing a secured area in which street racers can get their fix they will be less likely to take their challenges to the other parts of town. To many, particularly street racers, the efforts of the city leaders in Lodz may be preferable to  the legal actions elsewhere in the world. While cities in California and Australia are making examples of seized street racing vehicles by crushing them or crashing them for educational films, Lodz, Poland is reaching out to them. The effectiveness of Lodz efforts will truly be determined by the street racers themselves.

There are other parts of the US where organizers have worked with local leaders and drag strip owners to provide alternatives to illegal street racing. By having venues open to racers you help cater to the crowd of racers who love the speed, but not the risk of getting busted or of causing others harm. Hopefully Lodz and other cities like them can set the example for other municipalities to follow.

Source[Anavona via Jalopnik]

Related Articles:
Australian Govt. to crash street racers cars for educational films
Ontario goes on the offensive against illegal street racers
California employs new tactics to crush illegal street racing

After what could be considered a successful opening for GM at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show a little snippet from Bob Lutz escapes to lay more smack on the new CAFE Laws and to generally “Poo Poo” on everyone’s good time. Both sides that pushed for or against the new CAFE Laws and their requirements of 35mpg by 2020 did their own fair share of “fearmongering” some are just not ready to quit.

Bob Lutz levied his warning to an eager audience that the new CAFE requirements are going to result in an increase in car prices of between $4,000 and $10,000; or $6,000 on average. His warning translates that the research necessary to discover a means to reach those standards and the development of the technology that will be implemented into our future cars will raise the price tag on cars by 2020. Considering the leap in prices I have seen in the last 10 years a $6,000 may be getting off light.

In their efforts to crack down on uninsured motorists administrators in the UK have adopted the policy of crushing cars. Maybe illegal street racers will not feel so alone and picked on now that they have been joined in the crushing by uninsured motorists? Or maybe now they have two reasons to worry if places like California, Canada and Australia adopt this policy as well.

There were 100,000 vehicles impounded by UK police in 2007 for the lack of insurance. Of those 100,000 45,000 were crushed. Considering the stereotypical condition and characteristics of an uninsured motorists car it can be presumed that those cars that were crushed were deemed unfit for the road. Those of us who live in states that do not have car inspections have seen cars that fit that description.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is the long arm of the US Government that is assigned with the task of assessing and collecting fines against automotive manufacturers who do not meet that years current CAFE standards. For the 2006 model year the NHTSA issued a big “thank you very much” to DaimlerChrysler for their CAFE violations. The amount of the fine issued was $30,257,635.50 and serves as the largest fine assessed to date. The 2006 penalty assessed to DaimlerChrysler nearly doubles their 2005 fine of $16,895,472.00. DaimlerChrysler just barely eclipsed the prior record holder which was BMW of North America’s 2001 penalty of $27,985,925.00. Congratulations DaimlerChrysler.