Copycats??

[evboy]

If this thing sells like crazy in a couple years, can the big three copy it, and just make a small tweak, so they cant be sued by elio. How exactly do you patent this since most things are off the shelf anyway, and you cant patent 3 weels or tandem seating.

 

[Gas-Powered Awesome]

How could they be sued by Elio to begin with? There are no patents, there can be no overall patents. Too much prior art.

And why would the Big 3 copying it be a bad thing? Isn't that Elio's objective: To start a transportation revolution? I think he'd call it mission accomplished.

But I wouldn't worry, the Big 3 are dinosaurs, very slow to adapt. Just look at the Volt. It's a very well-done vehicle but at $40,000 it's totally misses the mark.

P.S. What do you call a bus-load of lawyers at the bottom of the Chesapeake? A good start!

 

[ElioDigger]

Some one will copy it for sure. However, competition is good. I would say the union and big three overhead will stop them from out price point

 

[Bilbo B]

Look at how quickly everyone else developed Minivans after Chrysler introduced theirs (ignoring the VW, which no one copied, unless you count the old Corvair van). When the Elio hits significant numbers, you can count on similar vehicles hitting the showrooms from other manufacturers.

 

[RUCRAYZE]

Some one will copy it for sure. However, competition is good. I would say the union and big three overhead will stop them from out price point

yea true, but china could put one on our shores for $3500!!

 

[BillZ]

yea true, but china could put one on our shores for $3500!!

...and it'd be worth only that too.

 

[wayne kemp]

America's motor companies do not want to make a car like an Elio. They make their money off the BIG dollar cars. All they will do is try to stop the sale of the Elios.

 

[outsydthebox]

yea true, but china could put one on our shores for $3500!!

That reminds me of the China scooters that have been (trying to) compete with the ultra-reliable Japanese brands. They grab the uneducated, "price is the only thing" folks. I used to be one of them. When I was looking to buy a scooter, I admit to being enticed by the lure of "brand new AND cheap. Then I started watching "craigslist" and noticing how many Japanese scooters, with 10K miles (or more) and still running...compared with, China brands...1 year old, 2K miles & NOT running! It didn't take long to "see a pattern". I ended up buying a 15 year old Honda Helix with 18K miles. Enjoyed it for 2 "trouble-free" years, put 12K miles on it AND sold it for more than I paid for it!
EM is working sooo hard to establish themselves as a Quality product. Looking at the "long term" goals...They will do fine .

 

[JEBar]

Some one will copy it for sure. However, competition is good. I would say the union and big three overhead will stop them from out price point

I agree that its highly unlikely the big three would be able to market a competitive vehicle at anywhere near the price point of a Elio .... if any major company would be able to come close it would be one of the Japanese companies that have built factories in nonunion states .... they also have a history of producing smaller cars .... that is where I believe EM's sales/marketing strategy gives them a big edge .... those companies have steps between the manufacture and the customer that add extra expense

Jim

 

[Mike W]

That reminds me of the China scooters that have been (trying to) compete with the ultra-reliable Japanese brands. They grab the uneducated, "price is the only thing" folks. I used to be one of them. When I was looking to buy a scooter, I admit to being enticed by the lure of "brand new AND cheap. Then I started watching "craigslist" and noticing how many Japanese scooters, with 10K miles (or more) and still running...compared with, China brands...1 year old, 2K miles & NOT running! It didn't take long to "see a pattern". I ended up buying a 15 year old Honda Helix with 18K miles. Enjoyed it for 2 "trouble-free" years, put 12K miles on it AND sold it for more than I paid for it!
EM is working sooo hard to establish themselves as a Quality product. Looking at the "long term" goals...They will do fine .

Agreed. China is adept at pumping out tons of consumer goods based on others' products. Scooters are good examples. My Honda SH150 only had 10k when I got rid of it. It was just getting broken in, it has 10s of thousands of miles left in it. Chinese scoots, once you get out on the road all bets are off. From what I have heard, there was even an entire counterfeit Apple store (Shanghai?), not just products, the entire Apple store! The ChElio (Chinese Elio) would just be an overgrown scooter for quality. I agree, the Japanese or Koreans is where the competition would come from. They know about small cars, they have understood for years about the use and importance of small cars in moving a country.