THE copycat car company has finally produced an original masterpiece.
After more than a decade of building Japanese copies of European prestige cars,
like the Benz S Class-(렉서스)LS limousine and BMW 3-Series-(렉서스)IS sports sedan,
http://www.carsguide.news.com.au/story/0,20384,4803974-26236,00.html
When Toyota launched its Lexus luxury car brand a decade ago it made no secret that it had Mercedes in it sights.
토요타가 Lexus를 런칭했을때 벤츠를 베낀것은 비밀도 아니었다.
Ten years later, the Japanese are sending in the clones with increasing frequency.
It"s not just the expensive models which European makers accuse Japan of copying. Consider, for example, the headlights on the latest Toyota Tarago. Now picture those of the Peugeot 206. Look familiar? Looks as if they should share the same part number.
토요타 Tarago, 푸조 206 어때? 비슷하지?
마치 같은 part number를 공유하듯이.
When Audi"s TT coupe and convertible were unveiled, diminutive Japanese maker Daihatsu had a car with an amazing likeness displayed at the very next Tokyo Motor Show called the Kopen. The latest Lexus coupe, due here before the end of the year, looks like a larger interpretation of Audi"s Bauhaus design.
아우디가 TT를 공개한후 일본의 다이하츠가 다음해 놀랍도록 비슷한 Kopen을
토쿄 모터쇼에서 공개했다.
Daihatsu has also built a miniature Hummer and, bizzarely, called it the Naked. And in 1999 at the same show, Mitsubishi took the wraps off a car that, if you squinted, you would swear blind was a new Mini.
다이하츠는 또한 Hummer의 미니어쳐 모델을 만들고 엽기적이게도
Naked라는 이름을 붙였다.
What about the "teardrops" on the headlights on latest batch of Hondas, such as the HR-V, Odyssey and the new Integra? A hint of BMW 3 Series perhaps? The tailights on the HR-V have a remarkable resemblance to the Volvo 850 wagon"s.
From a distance, Toyota"s square-shaped MR2 looks like a Porsche Boxster.
The original Toyota Celica was so inspired by the Ford Mustang of the era that today"s enthusiasts call it the "Mustang Celica".
멀리서 보면 토요타의 MR-2는 포르쉐 Boxter를 닮았다.
셀리카는 Mustang에서 영감을 받았다.
Now, even after 10 years, Lexus still hasn"t broken its clone-like mould. The latest Lexus LS430 has the sillouette of the superseded Mercedes S Class and a headlight theme borrowed from the new S Class.
10년이 흘렀지만 Lexus는 여전히 베끼기지 멈추지 않는다.
When the covers came off the fourth generation Lexus at the Detroit Motor Show two years ago, Mercedes-Benz broke its corporate silence over what it called "Japanese copycat cars" but stopped short of calling it plagiarism.
"People explain to us it is really an honour to have someone copy our cars, but I don"t think we see it that way any more," said Harald Leschke, the head of design at Mercedes-Benz. "I think it is quite obvious that they admire the design, then try to do it their way. I"m sure in some industries this sort of thing is not legal.
"What surprises us most is that [Lexus] are prepared to do it, in public, and that customers are prepared to buy their copycat cars."
"사람들은 우리차를 베끼는것은 영광스런 일이라고 하지만,
난 더이상 그렇게 생각하지 않는다" 벤츠의 디자인 실장.
"더욱 놀라운것은 Lexus는 불법적인 copy가 준비되어있고
고객들은 그 베낀차량을 살 준비가 되었다는 것"
"I think it"s fair to say all their cars have been influenced by someone else"s models," he said. "They don"t have a history so they have to copy someone else"s."
" 내 생각에는 Lexus는 모든 종류의 차량에서 영감을 받았다고 하는게 옳겠지. 그들은 역사가 없으니 남의 것을 베끼는 수 밖에 없다"
Industry experts argue that a flagship Lexus made sense when it was considerably cheaper than the German benchmarks. But now that it is priced the same, there"s less incentive to drive an imitation. Nevertheless, Europe"s car maker have now become so concerned about Japan"s sincere forms of flattery that they are wary of showing concept cars of future models.
Porsche, for example, has deliberately not shown "design studies" of its Cayenne off-roader because it fears a Japanese maker will be able to release its interpretation just as Porsche unveils the real thing. 포르쉐는 카이엔의 디자인 스타디(스케치)를 공개하지 않기로 했다. 왜냐하면 포르쉐의 차량 공개와 동시에 일본이 (같은것을)공개하는것이 두렵기 때문이다. "With computers and so much new design technology, development times of new models has greatly reduced," says Porsche Cars Australia marketing manager, Michael Bartsch. "If we show a car three years before it is due to come out, someone else can have a copycat car out about the same time. "While it"s very flattering that certain companies see you as a benchmark it is a form of flattery we quite frankly could do without." "컴퓨터로 인해 새로운 모델을 디자인하는 시간은 매우 짧아졌다."Porsche 호주 마케팅 매니져, Michael Bartsch씨가 말했다. "만약 우리가 자동차 시판 3년전에 디자인을 공개 한다면 누군가는 베낀 디자인의 자동차를 우리와 같은 시기에 공개 할 수 있다" So why does Japan do it? According to Drive"s Japanese correspondent, Peter Lyon, an ex-pat Aussie who has lived there for the past 12 years, there are several reasons. At the core of the problem, he says, is Japan"s conservative culture and the fact that Japanese car makers have less history from which to draw inspiration than their European counterparts. 그렇다면 왜 일본은 카피를 하는가? 일본 Drive지 기고자 Peter Lyon씨는 그것에는 몇가지 이유가 있다고 설명한다. 일본의 보수적인 문화와 일본 자동차 메이커의 짧은 역사를 이유로 들고있다. "The Japanese have a proverb which says, "The nail that sticks out gets banged down"," Lyon says. "With 120 million-plus people crammed into an area roughly the size of NSW, the Japanese maintain the peace by choosing not to rock the boat. 일본 속담에 "튀어나온 못은 맞는다"라는게 있다. 1억2천명이 넘는 사람들이 New South Wales州만한 크기의 땅에서 살고 있다. 일본인들은 평온한 상태를 유지 하길 원한다. "In high school, they do not have debates and students are not encouraged to ask teachers questions. No-one challenges the political system or sends up the Imperial family. "They do not like to point the finger, nor does their psyche promote constructive criticism. In this environment, world-beating design is all but non-existent." "고등학교에서 그들은 토론이 없고 학생들은 선생에게 질문을 하지도 않는다. 누구도 정치적인 시스템과 일왕가족에게 도전을 하지 않는다" For example in Europe, Lyon says, designers style dresses to highlight a woman"s curves; in Japan, the kimono suppresses curves and creates a single, monotone shape. Therefore European car stylists draw inspiration from art, philosophy, sculpture, architecture and the human form; Japanese designers package their cars in shapes that appeal to the lowest common denominator. 예를들면 유럽에서 의상은 여인의 몸매를 두드러 지게 하지만, 일본 키모노는 몸매를 숨기고 단순하고 한가지 형태만을 가진다.그러므로 유럽 자동차 스타일은 그들의 예술,철학,조각,건축물과 인간에서 기인하지만 일본의 디자이너는 대다수 사람에게 어필하는 디자인을 한다. "Japanese women still are taught that a man"s appearance is not as critical as his performance at work, as a kind of corporate warrior," says Lyon. "The stylists who pen today"s cars are typical salarymen - monotone men with black hair, dark blue suits and white shirts." "일본의 디자인너들은 전형적인 셀러리맨이고 검은 머리에 진한 청색 양복과 하얀 셔츠의 단조로운 남자들이다" The lack of history is also an Achilles heel. "Japan had no horse-and-carriage era. True, the nobility were transported in carriages for a time, but these were import!!ed or the designs were copied. 역사의 부족 또한 아킬레스건이다. "일본은 馬과 마차의 시대가 없었다. 일본귀족들이 마차를 이용한 시기가 있었지만 모두 수입되고 카피된것들 뿐이었다." "So the country skipped a critical phase in its maturation process as a car stylist. Too often, designers took the easy option and borrowed looks from around the world." "그래서 일본은 자동차 스타일리스트의 성숙기를 그냥 지나쳐 버린것이다. 그래서 너무 자주 디자이너들은 세계에서 디자인을 빌려오게 되었다."
