Zotye SR9
The SR9 is probably the Chinese model that has caused the most controversy and the most discussions even before its official launch. This is a blunt copy of the Porsche Macan, including the interior. The SR9 is as similar to the Macan as the Landwind X7 is to the Range Rover Evoque. The dimensions of the SR9 are 4.744/1.929/1.647mm, with a wheelbase of 2.850mm, all within a centimeter of the Macan’s dimensions. This isn’t the first time Zotye has copied a VW Group product, but it is the most obvious. Chinese car buyers don’t care about the copyright infringements, if they can drive a car that looks like a >588.000 yuan Porsche for a fifth of that price.
You read that right, the Porsche Macan starts at 558.000 yuan (€ 80.900,- / US$ 84,900) and tops out at almost double that: 1.124.100 yuan for the Turbo with performance package. The Zotye SR9 is priced from 109.800 yuan (€ 15.100,- / US$ 15,900) and runs up to 162.800 yuan. And for that kind of money, the SR9 offers quite a modern drive train: it’s powered by a turbocharged 4-cylinder petrol engine with 190hp and 250Nm, mated to a five-speed manual or a six-speed dual clutch transmission. In fact, it’s the same engine as the Landwind X7, as it’s sourced from the same Shenyang-Mitsubishi engine Joint Venture that supplies almost all smaller Chinese automakers.
