Chinese Wey P01 looks like a copied version of all-new Ford Bronco

KUALA LUMPUR: The Chinese automakers have a long history of literally replicating the vehicle designs of several carmakers, be it Japanese, Korean, German, or western. If you explore, you can find the clones of BMW X5, Kia Picanto, Land Rover Range Rover Evoque, Tesla Model S, and many more. The recent model joining this list is the recently unveiled all-new Ford Bronco. 

The Chinese brand, Wey, established by Great Wall Motors in 2017, has recently released the teaser of its upcoming model, named P01, which looks almost identical to the iconic Ford Bronco. The renders are a bit shady, but the similarities are apparent. 

Wey P01 features a tall, upright front end similar to Bronco and round headlamps, each split by horizontal LEDs, posing a flip angle of Bronco's headlight design. The rear ends are pretty spot-on, though the Chinese P01 gets some different LED taillamps, compared to the Bronco. The front fenders, on the other hand, resemble the ones seen on the Jeep Wrangler.

Whether the P01 features unibody design or gets a more rugged body-on-frame architecture, is not known at the moment. Similarly, the technical specifications are also undisclosed. However, it is highly unlikely to get a potent V8 or a twin-turbocharged V6 under the hood due to the set up of China's vehicle tax structure. Moreover, the interior design of P01 is also under wraps at present.

But we know that Wey P01 will feature a double-wishbone independent front suspension along with an integral bridge-type independent rear suspension, as per the Autoblog report. 

In the coming weeks, the model is expected to make its official debut in the Chinese market, and it will go on sale shortly after. 

It seems like Chinese automakers will continue to fool the Chinese customers by this kind of blatant design ripoffs, but it cannot mislead others. More amazingly, China passed a law to protect its domestic automakers, which made it impossible for others to prove to a Chinese court that its patented designs are stolen. So, these ripoffs are not going to stop anytime soon.

Also read: Ford Mach-E early design sketches revealed