Key players in the Chinese car industry are now firmly focused on export markets, and making staggering advances in value, technology and quality. They're going head-to-head (and often beating) Japanese, Korean and European brands where it counts in the eyes of western consumers.
Know where they're not quite there yet? Styling. Design. Too many Chinese cars go the inoffensively generic route, and those brands that go for a bit more flair... really struggle to be original, and tend to look to more established global brands for "inspiration".
The Chinese domestic industry is legendary for its blatant knock-offs; we could go down a real rabbit-hole looking at some of those. But we won't. We're looking at models sold in the New Zealand market. All done with love, of course; some of these are quite fun.
BAIC B30, brought to you by Ford Bronco Sport
BAIC has history with Jeep: the two formed China's first joint venture with a Western brand back in 1984. BAIC specialises in SUV models and a lot of its marketing/media material embraces that former Jeep connection.
So how strange that the BAIC B30 is essentially a line-tracing of... the US-market Ford Bronco Sport. The styling cues are very similar, the proportions are equivalent and it's even built on an identical 2820mm wheelbase.
Mind you, in China BAIC also produces a Jeep Grand Cherokee, um, homage that's based on a Mercedes-Benz platform. And a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen knock-off that's based on a Jeep platform. It pays not to think about this stuff too much, it'll hurt your head.
Jaecoo J5, brought to you by any kind of Range Rover
Different size, very different market segment, but if you can't see how Jaecoo (a Chery export-focused SUV brand) has ripped off a variety of Range Rover styling cues in its J5 EV, you should get your prescription checked. And then have a lok at a Range Rover Sport, for example. You could say the same of the larger J7.
The J5 looks quite sweet, actually. And it's likely it's been done with Land Rover's tacit approval, given the two companies are formally engaged in a joint venture called the Chery Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Company.
CJLRAC (catchy) builds vehicles for the Chinese market, but more interestingly it's also rebooting a name from Land Rover's past with a new model called the Freelander 8... which looks a lot like an older Discovery, although it's a very new-tech SUV.
Imagine if you did a cover version of a song and got some of the original band members to play on it. Excellent.
Zeekr 9X, brought to you by Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Zeekr's monster 9X flagship SUV is likely NZ-bound, and it looks set to make a big impression. It's even featuring in Zeekr NZ's ice experience drive at the Southern Hemisphere Proving Grounds next month, although an on-sale date is not yet confirmed.
We do like Zeekr's attitude with the 9X: we're going to copy the Rolls-Royce Cullinan and if people don't get that, we'll duplicate the PR pictures to underline it.
When Rolls-Royce launched the Cullinan back in 2018, it publicised the radical new model with a striking series of images, featuring a black example storming through dirt and sand.
When Zeekr revealed the 9X last year, it publicised the new model with... you get it. It's the Rolls-Royce of Chinese SUVs.
Foton Tunland, brought to you by Ram 1500
The Foton Tunland ute is back on sale in NZ after an absence of seven years (it's complicated). But it's also back in bigger style than ever, with dimensions that exceed mainstream one-tonne utes like the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux, but don't quite reach the road-hogging footprint of American pickup trucks.
Speaking of: the Foton Tunland is also back looking exactly like a Ram 1500 at the front, at least in flagship V9-S form. And it's not a slightly vauge visual reference: a Ram has a very distinctive face and the Tunland has it too.
Okay, okay: our comments only apply to the V9-S. There's also a Tunland V7-C, which is more of a work truck, and that looks nothing like a Ram. It looks exactly like a Ford F-150.
XPeng G6, brought to you by Tesla Model Y
The Tesla Model Y is an enormously influential EV. Launched in 2019, it remains one of the world's top-selling cars. The other thing about the Tesla Model Y is that it looks weird, with its oddly elevated roofline and egg-like profile.
The success of the Y obviously led other carmakers to think there must be something in this ovoid styling template, because it's widely copied by brands all over the world. And because the Tesla does look so odd, it's clear that it's being copied.
Anyway, we're being a bit unfair to the XPeng G6 here, because while it clearly rips off the Model Y in its size and proportions, what really seals the deal is that narrow front lightbar, which makes it a dead-ringer for the latest Model Y ("Juniper" to tedious people).
Problem is, the G6 came out in China in 2023, whereas the new-shape Model Y was launched in early-2025. So either XPeng copied the Tesla basics and then correctly predicted what a Model Y facelift might look like, or Tesla copied XPeng's copy. We like both versions.
Wild card: Suzuki Jimny, brought to you by
Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen
The G-Wagen is surely the most copied SUV in history: it's about its chunky simplicity and unrivalled heritage. We're looking at you, GWM Tank 300.
But it's not just the Chinese that are at it. Ineos Grenadier, we're looking at you.
And Suzuki Jimny, we're especially looking at you. The Japanese company rebooted its little 4x4 into smash-hit status in 2019 by making it look like a G-Wagen that was parked very far away.
As one friend of DRIVEN Car Guide said in a slightly gruff tone recently: "Suzuki keeps building the same car for 20 years, it makes the thing look like a G-Wagen and suddenly everybody wants one."
Exactly! Problem?