Carmakers target China 'copies'

BMW and DaimlerChrysler are threatening legal action against a Chinese carmaker they claim is producing copies of some of their models.

BMW is said to consider Shuanghuan Automobile's CEO model to be too similar to its own X5.

Daimler says Shuanghuan's Noble is too close to its Smart Fortwo.

A Shuanghuan official insisted the cars were legal and approved by the Chinese government, and blamed the media for "hyping things".

"We don't think our autos are identical," the official said.