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Recently, the event that Flyin’ F7 is similar to NIO ET5 can be said to be very popular. So why are the “children” of these two companies so similar, and from the map, NIO and Flyin’ F7 are located very close, with a distance of 100 meters, so you can have a panoramic view with just a turn. Today, let’s analyze who is the “neighbor” behind?
As two car companies headquartered in the Shanghai Jiading Automobile Innovation Port, some disguised and test cars, as well as production cars will often park in the ground parking lot below. Just casually taking a photo, you can see Flyin’ F7 and NIO ET5. On careful observation, the two are indeed quite similar.
We know that the birth of every car starts with a concept car. At the time of the earliest project establishment, designers will conceive, then produce drawings, and finally, after beautification and rendering, it becomes the initial style of the concept car.
NIO ET Series Product Line
So let’s study the product line of NIO ET series, one of today’s protagonists. The concept car prototypes of NIO ET7 and ET5 are called ET Preview. From the pictures, the restoration degree cannot be said to be unlike, it can only be said that they are not born from the same “mother”. When NIO ET7 and ET5 were unveiled, the point of attention was not that they did not restore the design of the concept car, but that they were innovatively designed with updated and more attractive looks. But is this really “innovation”?
Flyin’ F7 and Concept Car
Next, let’s invite another contestant, Flyin’ F7. The concept car of Flyin’ F7 is called the Flyin’ Aura Concept Aurora. Speaking of Flyin’ Aura, this concept car won the “2020 Red Dot Concept Design Award”. It is definitely a great honor, no wonder XXXX. From the picture, it can be seen that Flyin’ F7 has a very high degree of consistency with the concept car of Aura Aurora. The same slender headlights, the same front face style, and the Flyin’ F7 is even more attractive on the basis of the original.
Who is Lee Gui and who is Lee Kui?
Next, you can see from the following images that the design of the headlights and front face of NIO ET5 is very similar to that of the FF Aurora Concept. It can even be said that NIO ET5 has faithfully restored the design of FF Aurora Concept. At this point, some people may ask, why isn’t it that FF Aurora Concept copied NIO’s design? The author of the article responds: This baby accepts the challenge! After all, this is not a question of which came first, the chicken or the egg. We can trace back to the source by following the chronological order.
Comparison between NIO ET and FF Aurora Concept
According to the available information, the first appearance of NIO’s ET Preview concept car was in April 2019, and just the following year, FF Aurora Concept was officially released. Judging by the design of the two concept cars, the two are very different in style.
Later, in January 2021, NIO’s mass-produced sedan, the ET7, was released, and at the end of the year, NIO ET5 officially entered the public’s field of vision. Due to the introduction of ET7, people did not find any problems with the design of NIO ET5, but rather considered that the two models of NIO ET series have experienced major “innovations.” It wasn’t until the Lantern Festival in 2023, with the appearance of FF F7, that people began to feel that FF F7 and NIO ET5 were quite similar, with a similar coupe-style body structure, slender headlight design, and taillight styling that runs through the entire rear. In short, the two could be said to be “twins.” Therefore, it can be basically confirmed that NIO ET series copied FF F7.Of course, in the deep digging of the “Chaoyang masses”, a “heavy news” was discovered that after SAIC Fengfan released the Aura Aurora concept car, NIO included its designer under its umbrella, as well as the design inspiration and ideas of Fengfan Aura. After all, it is the model that won the 2020 Red Dot Concept Design Award, so it shouldn’t be a problem to “borrow” a little. Oh, can’t say it like that. How can we call it “plagiarism” when it comes to the matter of scholars? This is “reference”. In this sense, NIO’s logic of “referring to” Fengfan F7 is correct.
Of course, we can’t blindly believe in the so-called “deep digging”. With the attitude of wanting to help everyone dig deeper, I opened LinkedIn and found that there are many former SAIC employees working in NIO. Of course, some of you may want to know which specific designer it is. Interested friends can search for it themselves.
As for the newly released Fengfan F7, although its appearance is plagiarized, its interior and price are much more attractive than NIO ET5. Everyone can pay attention to it. After all, the design that comes from “plagiarism” can’t last. Finally, I would like to give NIO a small suggestion: Mr. Li Wenwu, please be more conscientious. How can your “child” look so similar to “the kid next door”~
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.