The Toyota Tundra Has a Copycat Truck in China Named the Tundar
Let’s get real: Not everyone needs a full-size pickup. That’s where the Tundar comes in.
I'm no expert in international copyright law but I can't imagine Toyota's lawyers are too thrilled with the Chinese truck brand SVH. Its newest pickup not only rips off the new Tundra's looks, but it's also called the Tundar. Nope, that's not a misprint.
The SVH Tundar looks like a novelty computer mouse version of the 2022 Toyota Tundra with essentially the same design, just squished into smaller, more upright proportions. It's funniest out back, where SVH ripped off the Tundra's design and didn't even bother to change the name—it still says "Tundra" on the tailgate.
Proportionally, I love how the Tundar looks like it was drawn in crayon on a piece of construction paper. It sits on adorable 13-inch wheels, and there's about three feet of sheet metal above those wheels. Its windshield is almost perfectly upright and it seems to have about as much ground clearance as a Camry.
Under the hood is a 1.0-liter three-cylinder Isuzu engine, and because the hood line is so tall and the power plant is so small, it looks buried in the engine bay. The little three-pot is paired to a five-speed manual transmission, only powers two wheels, and has a top speed of just 62 mph (100 km/h). As a result, you shouldn't expect to do many truck things with it.
The interior doesn't look too bad for such a cheap truck, and it's pretty well-equipped. It has a nice-looking three-spoke steering wheel, a big digital instrument panel, a bright red plastic dashboard and door trim, and Mercedes-style circular air vents. It even has some sort of quilted floor mat, which is made out of who knows what. Air conditioning and a backup camera seem to be standard equipment, too.
Even for a price of $6,000 FOB (Free on Board, meaning the seller takes responsibility for the shipment of the vehicle until it reaches its destination), the Tundar isn't a great value. You can get some surprisingly nice cars on the used market for $6,000 that will have better engines, more creature comforts, and designs that aren't ripoffs of other cars. However, none of those will make you laugh as much as the Tundar, the most lovable copycat I've ever seen.
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