Chinese automaker SAIC has responded to the European Commission’s decision to impose a punitive 38.1% tariff on its electric vehicles by unveiling a range of accessories, from baseball caps to coffee mugs, featuring a distinctive 38.1 design with a small EU flag forming the decimal point. Other items include table tennis bats and little badges with the MG logo and the words “A quality car specially selected by the EU,” according to the designs posted on China’s Twitter-like microblogging platform Weibo by Shao Jingfeng, a deputy design chief at SAIC. It is not clear whether the state-controlled manufacturer will actually produce and sell the collection, yet Shao has invited public feedback on the social media space. The news comes after Brussels said on June 12 it will impose additional tariffs of between 17.4% and 38.1% on Chinese electric vehicle imports, with MG’s owner and those deemed incompliant with EU standards facing the hardest hit, TechNode has reported. [TechNode reporting, Shao Jingfeng’s post on Weibo, in Chinese]
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