Great Wall patents its Beetle rip-off in Europe, VW stays silent

When Ora, a subordinate brand of Great Wall Motor Ltd., unveiled its Punk Cat Concept at the Auto Shanghai show in April, Volkswagen said it was considering taking legal action against the obvious Beetle clone. One has to wonder, what happened to that intent?

The Chinese carmaker has just patented two versions of the Ora Punk Cat in Europe, styling them with different lighting, moldings, wheels and rear spoilers. Even with these alterations and two extra doors, both cars look uncannily like the Beetle.

The patent will last until 2026, but nothing prevents the manufacturer from prolonging it by another five years several times in a row.

Volkswagen has not commented the news yet, nor has it taken any action to prevent the alleged intellectual property theft – at least, none we would be aware of.

Aside from painstakingly copying the Beetle’s visual cues on the outside, the car does essentially the same with the cabin. No technical specifications or estimated availability dates have been announced yet.