General Motors China versus Chery: Disputes Over Intellectual Property Rights

This case was prepared by Dr Liu Shengjun and Professor Juan Antonio Fernandez at CEIBS as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative or business situation. Chery, a Chinese domestic car maker, launched a new mini car model, the QQ in July 2003. This was several months earlier than the planned launch date for General Motor (GM)'s new mini car, the Chevrolet Spark. The QQ looked very similar to the Chevrolet Spark but was priced much cheaper. GM claimed that the Chery QQ was a knockoff of the Matiz, a model owned by GM Daewoo. To make matters worse for GM, Chery was aggressively expanding into other countries where GM had a presence. The case was tailored for illustrating the IPR challenges for multinationals to do business in China.