Copycat Cars

So I've written about copycat cars before, but it hit a whole new level for me when I visited the Shanghai Car Show yesterday.

BYD was the worst.  They ripped off Mazdas, Toyotas, Hondas, even Mercedes:

Bu the worst was the Lamborghini/Ferrari ripoff:

It would be kind of cool if it wasn't so stupid.  And if it didn't serve to stifle creativity.  According to the WSJ,

...his company does no engineering or design work whatsoever. Instead, they tell an outside engineering consultant which existing model they want to copy, and ask them to come up with a product counterfeited in a way that it won’t attract intellectual property lawsuits. In some cases that means companies combining styling ideas from two separate cars into one.

Shouldn't car companies be putting more into R&D than lawyer fees?

Quote of the Day

From Saturday's China Daily:

President Congratulates Kim on Reelection
President Hu Jintao on Friday congratulated Kim Jong-Il, the leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), on his reelection as chairman of the country's National Defense Commission.  

Is it really a re-election if you're not running against anyone?

Springfield, China

That's Blinky, the famous fucked-up fish from Springfield's nuclear-waste infected rivers.

That's a pig that was just born in Zhejiang, near Shanghai.