Zonda Auto to appeal A9 Bus copyright ruling

Shanghai, January 23 (Gasgoo.com) Zonda Industrial Group said it will appeal the ruling of the bus copyright infringement lawsuit filed by German auto company Neoplan Bus GmbH, china.com said, citing a Zonda executive.

Recently, several media reports said Zhongwei Bus & Coach Group, along with its parent company Zonda Industrial Group and its agent Beijing Zhongtong Xinghua Vehicle Sales Co., Ltd., were ordered to pay 20 million yuan ($2.92 million) in compensation to Neoplan after a Beijing court ruled that Zhongda's A9 bus was a copy of a Neoplan bus named Starliner.

A Zonda executive said the company had the R&D record and full patent of its A9 bus, which was definitely not a copycat of the German company's award-winning Starliner. "The Beijing court's verdict hasn't take effect and we have already appealed," he said.

The Chinese companies were also ordered to stop making and selling the A9 bus and to pay 1.16 million yuan in legal costs.

Some A9 buses had been exported to southeast Asian countries and to eastern Europe. The A9 bus was sold at about a third of the Starliner's price.

German Neoplan's award-winning Starliner

Zonda's A9 bus