TURIN -- Daimler has stopped a Chinese minicar that resembles the Smart ForTwo from being shown at next week's Bologna auto show.

Daimler claims the Noble infringes its design copyright for its ForTwo. The Noble is built by Chinese automaker Shuanghuan Automobile.

The German carmaker won a temporary order from an Italian court banning the Noble from being displayed at the Bologna show, which opens December 5.

Martin Motors, Shuanghuan's European distributor, says it has appealed the court injunction and it hopes the case will be resolved before the Bologna show opening.

Daimler obtained a similar court injunction in Germany to prevent German distributor China Automotive Deutschland from showing the Noble at the Frankfurt IAA in September.

Plans to sell despite court action

ENLARGE Daimler's Smart ForTwo

Martin Motors plans to sell the Noble as the Bubble in Europe to avoid a legal dispute with UK sports car maker Noble Automotive.

Martin Motors spokeswoman Viviana Martinelli said the company still plans to sell the Bubble despite Daimler's court action.

"We are determined to sell the Bubble in Europe because we are totally convinced it is a different product from the Smart ForTwo," Martinelli told Automotive News Europe.

If the legal dispute with Daimler is resolved, Martin Motors will begin selling the 68hp 1.1-liter Bubble in Italy and Romania by the end of December.

The Bubble will cost 10,500 euros in Italy and about 10,000 euros in Romania.

Martin Motors also plans to sell the Bubble in other European markets including France, Spain, Austria, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland and Hungary.

Distribution plans for Germany have been already stopped until the legal dispute with Daimler in the German courts is resolved.

Martinelli believes the Bubble cannot be confused with the ForTwo because the Bubble is a four-seat, front-engined car while the ForTwo is a two-seat, rear-engined car.

The legal battle between Daimler and Martin Motors is escalating.

In October, Martin Motors took action in an Italian court demanding that Daimler demonstrate the validity of its exclusive rights on the Smart design. It is still waiting for a ruling from the court.

The court has to rule if the Chinese minicar is violating Daimler's copyrights.

In early October, Martin Motors unveiled the Noble at the Bucharest auto show in Romania. It says Daimler did not take any legal action to prevent the Noble being shown at the show.

Based near Beijing, Shuanghuan has capacity to make 30,000 cars a year.

Sales of another Shuanghuan vehicle, the CEO large SUV, began in Romania and Italy earlier this year. The CEO resembles BMW's X5 premium SUV.

Only 22 CEOs were sold in Italy up until the end of last month, according to registration figures provided by UNRAE, the Italian association of foreign carmakers. The CEO is priced at 27,500 euros.

You may e-mail Luca Ciferri at lciferri@craincom.de