Spot the difference case hits great wall

Italian carmaker Fiat has a month to appeal a court decision against Chinese carmaker Great Wall Motors over the copycat claim.

The Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court last week dismissed a patent infringement complaint against Great Wall Motors by Fiat.

Fiat claims the Hong Kong-listed Chinese carmaker's Peri models infringe Fiat's patent. Fiat says the GWM Peri is a Fiat Panda look-alike.

The issue between Great Wall and Fiat is a sensitive one for Australian Fiat importer Ateco Automotive, as it plans to start importing Great Wall vehicles late this year.

However, Ateco has no plans to bring in the Fiat Panda, according to spokesman Edward Rowe. GWM spokeswoman Ann Wild says Great Wall Motors is still finalising the vehicles it will launch here.

She also says the Fiat-GWM legal stoush had been discussed locally but is not considered an issue.

Wild's public relations company is handling the launch of the Great Wall vehicles, which will kick off with the SA230 utility. She says her company has been hired because GWM will be a distinct launch for a new manufacturer.

“The stable at Ateco [Citroen, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Ferrari] is quite different,” she says. Stuck side-by-side, the 1.3-litre Peri looks surprisingly like the Panda. Great Wall also builds an all-electric Peri.

However, Great Wall says the court concluded, after examining pictures of Fiat's patented exterior design, that there were significant differences between it and the Peri.

The Italian company was ordered to pay court costs of about $1500.

Fiat communications spokesman Gualberto Ranieri is guarded about any likely response from the Italian giant.

“We acknowledge the Chinese court decision notwithstanding we point out that it goes on the opposite avenue vis-a-vis a resolution taken on July 15 by a court in Europe on the same issue,” Ranieri says.

“Fiat is currently evaluating a number of options on how to proceed.”

Ranieri would not comment on whether Fiat had issues with Ateco's move to import GW vehicles. Last month a Turin court banned Great Wall from selling its compact Peri in the European Union, saying the car too closely resembles the Panda.

Great Wall is preparing documents for an appeal against the ruling and doesn't anticipate the Italian court order will have a substantial impact on its operations. Copycat cars have been a problem for other carmakers as well.

In the past Daimler Benz, Honda and General Motors have been involved in disputes with Chinese carmakers.