Not as funny as I thought

The difficulties revolving around the introduction of the Jiangling Landwind sport-utility vehicle (SUV) in Europe demonstrate the need for Chinese companies to take the time to investigate how to penetrate export markets...

The Landwind entered the European market through a vehicle distributor in the Netherlands that saw an opportunity to grow its own business with an SUV that was about 50% cheaper than comparable European makes. Unbeknown to Jiangling, a number of Landwind SUVs had been purchased for crash testing by the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobile Club (ADAC), a prestigious German organization whose rating system has become a widely accepted standard for vehicles sold in Europe.

The results of the testing were pointedly summarized in one German media outlet as "'catastrophic' ... In a frontal crash test the Landwind delivered the worst result ever in the history of ADAC crash testing ... Crashed against a barrier at a modest 64 kilometers per hour, the Landwind's entire frame collapsed, and stunned engineers had to 'amputate' part of the crash dummy's legs to remove it from the wreckage.

"A separate side-impact crash, which is usually easy to withstand by heavy SUVs, showed that the Landwind's designers 'hardly wasted any thoughts on modern security standards' ... With no side airbags nor even padding, the dummy's head suffered what would have been serious injuries ... Summing up its findings, the ADAC said: 'The Landwind is as dangerous as a tornado'" (Source: "Chinese Landwind SUV panned in crash tests", Expatica.com, October 11, 2005).

Hilarious, right? And since they're German, a good place to use the word schadenfreude. However, the story's not so simple:

...The Landwind distributor...attempted to respond to allegations its product was unsafe for driving on European roads.

"After all, we as the official importer had not been informed before and we were not invited to be present when the tests were performed. Upon our request for further information, there was only silence. Our lawyers issued a formal request for further information but received no answer either. Let me repeat this information because it might sound weird; we have not seen any data from this crash test, although we have requested this over and over again ... We contacted the TUV [Rheinland, an international automotive servicing and testing group] and asked them to perform a comparable test with a similar vehicle, at short notice.

"Fortunately the TUV saw a possibility in its tight schedule to repeat the crash test under clinical conditions. This was completed ... and we are here to report back to you what they found. The result of this crash test is very encouraging. The crash-test measurements for both driver and passenger confirm that this vehicle is fully compliant with current EU regulations ... We have been hit very hard by this publicity, and we think that not all has been fair. Today we have informed you about the prudent and professional approach that we have towards issues such as these."

...as Jiangling ultimately proved, the Landwind product passed the necessary European Union testing with only the slightest of modifications - the addition of a bar to the undercarriage.