[benzinblut]

Originally Posted by benzinblut

May be there is something more to this story.

In continuation to my earlier post today. This case reminded me of this post : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...ml#post2001470

Originally Posted by GTO

Reminds me of the "Concedes" That is, a Contessa with a Mercedes front & rear end officially sold by National Garage Mumbai (premier dealer of HM at one time). It was quite popular too, and many an untrained eye mistook it for the real thing.

One legal notice from Mercedes and the conversions came to an end.

May be it was pressure from Mercedes that made the RTO act this way.

[Chetan_Rao]

It's got a lot to do with ignorance of and blatant disregard for Intellectual Property rights in India.

It's rampant, and a lot of it never gets acted upon because the IP owners either don't find out, or deem it not worth pursuing because the infringement is happening in an area unlikely to affect their brand.

[hemanth.anand]

"Too much!" was my first reaction. However, I'm on the fence on this one.

On one side, I felt it's only a small bumper and alloy mod and if this is not allowed, there would be many mods that shouldn't be allowed

Imagine there is a hit and run case involving this car. Someone noted down details and reported to the police that a red Benz KL XX XX XXXX hit someone and sped away. Then police get details of the number and see that it is a Baleno. By the time they actually get to the vehicle the guy converts it back to stock and the Police find that it is indeed a Baleno and no Benz. They ignore the guy who noted down owing to oversight and investigation is mislead!

In my PUCollege days, I had removed the Kinetic Logo from my Luna and put a BMW logo there.
And my Last car Punto was looking less like a Fiat and more like an Abarth and have answered innumerable "Which car is this?" kind of questions
Thankfully this officer wasn't anywhere near where I had my vehicles

[lawdgawd]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

I mean, that doesn't fool anyone these days. Even if it does, you know in your heart what you are driving.

I am sure pretending to drive an expensive brand is one reason for these mods. However, there is another - making your own car look like a much costlier car in a believable fashion, and the creative satisfaction of doing it.

Some people who modify their Thars, for example, and stick Jeep logos on them. The really well-done examples look so much classier than a Thar, and can make people think they are actually are some Wranglers. Most people do not get fooled by it for more than a second. Me neither, but I always stop to appreciate a good mod job - provided it looks good.

To me, the Baleno is a fantasy MB - like a well executed photoshop job on wheels. That is satisfying in its own way for some.

[msk_kapoor]

The main reason why RTO doesnt allow these mods without registering is to avoid possible criminal activities. A modded car like this will be identified by witnesses mostly based on the outlook and then the police will try to match with RTO details which will not yield proper results.

[ptushar]

Originally Posted by msk_kapoor

A modded car like this will be identified by witnesses mostly based on the outlook and then the police will try to match with RTO details which will not yield proper results.

To some extent yes, because details of the vehicle are stored by RTO and mostly referred in times in crime or accidents.
In addition, any modification is likely to weaken the structural integrity of the vehicle, unless done by an engineering professional in a proper vehicle workshop. Most mods are simply mechanics who cut the vehicle and stitch it together again. This puts the driver and the passengers at risk, not to mention the general public as well.

[ani_meher]

Many people on team-bhp have de-stickered their cars, so only a few - if any - identification marks remain on the car. I don't buy that somehow looking at the logo, people will infer it is a merc car. This may be a complaint by someone in the know only.

Someone should paste 'nano' or 'alto' on his BMW/Merc.

[ACM]

SAD

I thought it was very tastefully done, and quite funny.

I have seen MANY rickshaws in Mumbai with the BMW Logo on the rear below the rear tail light.

I have seen Rickshaws with Audi logos, shouldn't they be confiscated?

If the logo was just the issue, the guy could have been asked to remove the logo and that would have been it.

I believe there is more to it than meets the eye.

In china official manufacturers copy entire cars and get away with it and only the logo is different.

This was just an individual having some fun.

MB should not have bothered. And the RTO could have ended matter demanding that the logo be removed and that should have been the end of it.

What about all the DC mods? The legality of those itself gives us the belief that the issue was to do with the logo rather than the modification itself.

On the other hand if a Baleno can look like a Merc with just the front and rear bumpers modified. Hmmmm.

[Technocrat]

I agree with some of the thoughts echoed here, its a simple mod, someone spent their money making their car look to their liking. The action seems over reaching and unnecessary unless there is some other agenda that we are not aware of.

I mean if it was used for Money Laundering (Registered as Merc) then makes some sense.

The only reason I think Merc could have played a hand is if this was an extremely popular mod like the National garage one GTO quoted as that will actually dilute their brand but one offs should not make them take such an action.

[kiku007]

Now the Owner/Mod Shop might think they did a good job making a Maruti look like a Merc

[Jr Godzilla]

Originally Posted by kiku007

Now the Owner/Mod Shop might think they did a good job making a Maruti look like a Merc

I agree, infact the car looks cool, Maruti R&D should take note.
Design a grill like this.



We all know the law is biased on such issues and it depends on social standing.

In Pune you have many such mods, however there is a Lancer look alike like Audi, which is parked in front of a warriors statue and enforcement has selfie's taken with it.

It has been tastefully done and no one cares to mess with the EAST SIDE of Pune.

If you know what I mean.

Cheers

[vb-saan]

I am with the authorities in this matter; Mercedes may have a hand in pushing this and I don’t blame them. Many countries have laws to crackdown counterfeit products; even if we don’t have that law and have Audi or BMW buses plying on our roads, this kind of close-to-real imitations need to be discouraged. Kerala being mods own country, (if this becomes popular) there are chances that folks buy a Baleno and straightaway do a makeover as an A-Class. Even worse, a BMW 2-series may get launched in small town in Kerala (using an S-Cross)

[Asish_VK]

News says someone complained against the car mod. In that case, what about the other thousands of modified cars ? (many in our tastefully modified thread / weird and wacky thread)

Also whats wrong with changing alloys ? If its illegal, I guess ~50% of the cars in our roads are illegal ?

On a funny note, It says he used many costly parts for this modification and will be fined after evaluation. He could've bought a second hand Merc itself if really wanted one

[Thermodynamics]

I still tend to believe, that Mercedes probably would not have done this, it doesn't make any business sense. IP rights infringement on that funny poor mod is too large a claim.

In fact, car manufacturers infringe a lot. Many popular cars are smart copies/inspirations of premium ones. The big guys such as Mercedes would likely worry about bigger things and target infringements prevalent within the industry.

On a side note, well, we know how the owner of Mercedes i.e. Daimler torture tested a Tesla.

[PearlJam]

Legalities aside (which I completely agree to, in posts mentioned earlier), assuming that MB is responsible for filing the complaint, I think MB is the end loser here. Consider the scenarios:

• The guy seems to be a genuine MB fan
• MB gets free publicity about their "brand" through this Baleno
• The poor guy cannot afford a MB, otherwise he would likely have bought a MB outright
• What does MB gain by harassing him? Nothing. In short, they have lost some goodwill. He doesn't look like a threat to MB in any way.
• In case the guy does well in life and can now afford a MB, he will no longer buy a MB due to this bitter experience