Great Wall Motor may appeal copyright ruling

Chinese auto maker Great Wall Motor may bring in independent expertise for a possible appeal against an Italian court that ruled to ban the sale of the company’s Peri car in Europe, the South China Morning Post reported. The case was brought by Italian car maker Fiat, which claimed the Peri was a copy of its Panda model. Great Wall committed around US$44 million to increase passenger car production between 2007 and 2010. In addition to Western Europe, the company exports vehicles to Latin America, Russia and Southeast Asia. Earlier this week, US firm Visionary Vehicles said it had filed a law suit against Chery Automobile, another Chinese car maker. Chery is accused of stealing proprietary information from Visionary Vehicles when the two companies were working on a plan to export cars to the US.