VW Exploring Partnership with China's BYD Auto on Hybrids and EVs

The Volkswagen Group has signed a memorandum of understanding with China's "Build Your Dreams" or as Toyota's people may put it, "Copy Your Dreams", BYD Auto to explore the options for partnership in the area of hybrids and electric vehicles powered by lithium ion batteries. The agreement between the two automakers was signed during an informational visit to VW's German headquarters. BYD Auto's delegation that was led by the company's chairman, Wang Chuanfu, consisted of several top managers.

"Volkswagen will consistently expand its successful 'BlueMotionTechnologies'. Hybrids and electric vehicles will play an increasingly important role, of course. Particularly for the Chinese market, potential partners such as BYD could support us in quickly expanding our activities," emphasised Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Board for Technical Development at Volkswagen.

During their visit that took place first at the Elektrotraktion Technology Centre in Isenbuttel and then at the German automaker's test tracks in Wolfsburg, BYD Auto's delegation had technical discussions with VW's people while they also had the chance to test drive a variety of vehicles such as the Golf twinDrive and the prototype for an electric vehicle.

BYD Auto has made headlines for launching the world's first mass produced plug-in hybrid, the F3DM, but also for cloning the designs of vehicles such as the Toyota Aygo (F0) and the Lexus RX (S6).

BYD T6: Chinese Maker Readying Porsche Cayenne SUV Clone with 2.0-Liter Engine!

In any other case, we'd have a hard time believing it, but when you're talking about Chinese automakers of the likes of BYD Auto that has a history of cloning other vehicles such as the Lexus RX-lookalike "S6 SUV" and the Toyota Aygo-esque "F0 minicar", everything is possible, even the creation of a Porsche Cayenne SUV knockoff. The above image of the Porsche Cayenne featuring a photoshoped BYD Auto grille circulated in numerous Chinese sites, but we managed to pinpoint the original scan on a Chinese forum.

We're not entirely sure if the photo is from an official brochure as suggested since there's a possibility that it could be sourced from a car magazine. Either way, while we have no knowledge of the Chinese language, we're presuming that the closing sentences in the article mean that BYD Auto's T6 Cayenne knockoff is planned to be introduced in September 2010 and that it will be equipped with a 2.0-liter engine.

BYD Auto isn't the only Chinese firm that has adopted vehicle cloning as an accepted development strategy. As we saw once again at last month's Shanghai Auto Show, many automakers from China follow this method to create new cars like the Landwind X8 - Mitsubishi Outlander, Great Wall Florid - Scion xA, Lifan 320 - MINI Cooper, Yema SQJ6451 - Subaru Forester and Geely GE - Rolls Royce Phantom.

We'll keep a close eye on the "BYD T6" Cayenne story and if (or when) we find something new, we'll post it up immediately.

Via: Le Blog Auto , Photo: Club BYD Auto

China's BYD Auto launches S6 Lexus RX Clone, Holds European Patent for Design Copyrights...

These are the first photos of BYD Auto's newest proposal in the SUV / Crossover segment, the S6 that is bound to make its debut at next month's 2009 Shanghai Auto Show that runs from April 20 to 28. If you haven't noticed it already, the Chinese automaker's SUV looks remarkably similar to the previous generation Lexus RX350. Sure the S6 has a different grille and revised headlamps / tail lights but unless your paycheck is coming from BYD Auto, few will disagree with us when we say that overall, its design shamelessly copies that of the RX350.

But what makes this story even more intriguing and apparently quite frustrating for Toyota / Lexus officials, is that believe it or not, we discovered that BYD Auto has actually succeeded in patenting the S6's design (see photo gallery bellow) at the European trademark office!

We don't have any other information on the S6 other than it is scheduled to go on sale in China later on in the year. However, what we really would like to find out is what Toyota and Lexus have to say about this latest cloning incident from China.

BYD AUTO S6 vs 2007 LEXUS RX350

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BYD AUTO S6 European Design Patents

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BYD S6 pics: Sina