Gasgoo.com (Shanghai June 24) - As a result of a legal entanglement with Fiat, Great Wall Motor has been legally ordered to halt producing a portion of its vehicles, auto.sohu.com reported earlier this week. The court in Torino, Italy, where the case took place, also ordered Great Wall to compensate Fiat with nearly 30,000 euros ($42,578) and additional court fines.
Fiat has sued Great Wall for infringing upon European patents numbered 00044722-0001 (those in connection with the Fiat Panda, pictured below) in the design of its Peri subcompact (pictured above). According to the court decision Great Wall will be prohibited from selling or advertising the vehicle in the EU, with each offense punishable by up to a fine of 15,000 euros ($21,289). Great Wall has until mid-September to appeal the decision.
In an official response, representatives from Great Wall confirmed that the manufacturer already halted production of the Peri last September, and has not exported any cars to the EU since then.
Since its debut, sales of the Peri were reportedly far from ideal, with the car accounting for less than 1 percent of Great Wall's total sales volume last year. The Peri was also exported to Russia and several African countries, in addition to the EU.
