Piaggio and Honda dismiss Diamond Blue scooter as copycat

Motorcycle makers Piaggio Vietnam and Honda Vietnam have condemned the locally assembled scooter Diamond Blue 125 as an illegal copycat.

The two companies told a news conference in Hanoi on Tuesday that Diamond Blue and Piaggio’s Vespa LX are identical in appearance and that the local motorcycle is not equipped with a Honda engine as claimed by a domestic company.

Lisohaka Co. Ltd., a unit of Vinashin Motor, launched Diamond Blue 125 on the local market in early September this year, saying the scooter was equipped with the Honda AF14E engine made by Sundiro Honda in China.

The scooter drew immediate public attention since it could be mistaken for Piaggio’s Vespa LX while a made-in-China Honda engine was mounted on it.

But Honda Vietnam on Tuesday stressed the Honda trademark had been illegally used for the AF14E engine and that the engine used for Diamond Blue was neither produced by Sundiro Honda nor any affiliates of Honda worldwide.

Honda Vietnam also denied its connection to the engine coded AF14E, or any Diamond Blues that are imported, assembled and distributed in Vietnam.

“Honda Motor Japan is the only owner of Honda trademark and Honda Motor never allows other parties to use the trademark in Vietnam, except Honda Vietnam,” said Honda Vietnam.

As news about the launch of Diamond Blue emerged in local media, Honda Vietnam contacted Honda Motor ( Japan) and Sundiro Honda ( China) for verification. Honda Motor confirmed it had never developed or manufactured the engine, or granted license to Honda’s licensees to make it, according to a statement of Honda Vietnam.

Hiroshi Sekiguchi, president of Sundiro Honda Motorcycle Co. Ltd. ( China), said in a statement that Sundiro Honda had never produced the Honda engine type AF14E. Therefore, the Certificate of Quality No. SH001452 was not issued by this company for the engine of Diamond Blue.

Vietnam Register (VR) sent an official letter to Honda Vietnam this month making clear that VR wrote to the Commercial and Economic Counselor Department (CDCD) of the Chinese embassy in Vietnam. In a diplomatic note, the embassy said Sundiro Honda had denied any connection with the so-called Honda AF14E engine.

Meanwhile, Piaggio Vietnam asserted the scooter has a design similar to its Vespa LX model though it has not struck any cooperation deal with Lisohaka, nor granted permission to Lisohaka to use Piaggio design.

Piaggio Vietnam said it had not registered the design for copyright protection in Vietnam but this Piaggio design had been famous worldwide for more than 60 years.

According to Honda Vietnam, VR has mentioned the possibility of requesting Lisohaka to recall all Diamond Blue 125 motorcycles, which have been selling well over the last month.

Previously, both Vietnam Register and Vinashin Motor had shown documentation as proof of origin of the AF14E engine.

A representative of Vinashin Motor had provided documents for reporters to prove the legitimacy of their product. The two most important documents are the certificate on vehicle quality and the certificate on quality of imported engines.

The certificate granted by VR on August 25, 2010 certifies that the Diamond Blue scooter’s engine originates in China and that the vehicle is assembled in Vietnam.

VR also certified on May 31 this year that the AF14E engine manufactured in 2009 and used for Diamond Blue is brand-new, according to local newspapers.