China’s auto industry is booming. We know that BMWs are big sellers, because China is now BMW’s largest market. BMWs and other premium brands are trying to meet the needs of China’s nouveau riche, but what about the middle-class Chinese who want a BMW but can’t pay the exorbitant prices. They are in luck, although in the end it may prove to be bad luck.
We have documented the BMW knock-offs produced by Chinese carmaker Brilliance that are sold in China and other places in the world like Abu Dhabi. Thanks to Auto Bild, we just learned about another fake BMW—or at least a vehicle that bears a strong resemblance to a certain BMW.
Behold the Shuanghuan CEO. There are no kidney grilles, but from most angles this thing looks a lot like a first-generation BMW X5. The resemblance stops there. In fact, it stops there and backs up. We would go so far as to say that the Ford Pinto and the AMC Gremlin are now off the hook. The Shuanghuan CEO has replaced them as the illustration for the dictionary definition of P.O.S.
The video presented below starts out as a test drive of the CEO. Unfortunately, the entire Auto Bild CEO test drive video presented below is in German. With our gasthaus German we can pick up a lot of the words but after a few seconds, it’s not really necessary to know what the reporters are saying. The video quickly transforms from a documentary to a comedy. In fact, toward the end it bears an amazing resemblance to a lighthearted episode of Mythbusters.
The build quality of the CEO defies description. The last time this writer saw that many rusty components was on a 1938 International truck that sat out in a field on the family farm for about 50 years. Bonnie and Clyde’s last Ford had more intact steel on it than this Shuanghuan CEO did, even before the video’s finale. We may be unfair here. Perhaps this particular CEO spent the last six months sitting in a river, or hauling salt for the road department.
What should we expect from a faux Chinese X5 with about 62,000 miles on the clock? Besides the rust? Among other things, horrible braking and almost uncontrollable handling due in part to some really scary body roll.
Eventually the handling test morphed into a torture test, which is only fair since the CEO was already torturing the driver. Witness a series of atrocities that normally—but not today—we would hate to see a car put through, starting with the test driver seeing how far the CEO will go with no oil or coolant. We won’t spoil the results.
To be fair, we’re certain that the Chinese auto industry makes better cars than the Shuanghuan CEO. In fact, we think it possible that all Chinese cars are made better than the Shuanghuan CEO. At least we hope so; otherwise, they’re wasting a lot of cheap steel. Enjoy the video.—Scott Blazey
[Photos and video courtesy of Auto Bild.]
