Chinese automakers have drawn inspiration from Western vehicle designs for years. This has sometimes led to some undesirable consequences for companies. Recently, several companies based in China have come up with unoriginal and ‘serious’ designs.
World giant Audi sued a Chinese company for this ‘serious’ design. Actually, the reason is the name rather than the design , that is, the weak point of the Chinese companies. According to the news of a German news site, the names chosen by a company for their car models did not go unnoticed by Audi.
Audi sues Chinese automaker Nio
The German automaker is taking Nio to court for using Audi’s ES6 and ES8 luxury SUVs, which have model names very close to the well-known S6 and S8 models. In a statement to German news agencies, an Audi representative said he wanted to protect his trademark rights. ” Nio used model designations for the European market, which in our opinion violates Audi brands.” Naturally, the company has not disclosed any further information as the issue has yet to be resolved.
However, the news source reported that Nio has removed these model names from its SUV vehicles. Although Germany has had great success in its home country ( and parts of Europe ), it remains a new and unexplored market for Nio . German sales of the ES6 and ES8 are expected to start in the fourth quarter, and negative news could damage the brand’s image and reputation.
Nio faces several challenges, which include establishing retail and charging networks, as well as potential legal issues. All models allegedly do not violate Audi’s trademark, as the electric ET7 has a unique model designation. What are you thinking? Please do not forget to share your thoughts with us in the comments.
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