Are DR Cars Really Made in Italy?

A little Italian car company, DR Automobiles, is facing some problems. People are saying they haven’t been honest about where their cars come from. They’ve been selling cars in Italy since 2006, but it seems they’ve been telling folks these cars are made in Italy when, in reality, they come from China.

The folks in charge of making sure things are fair in business, the Italian Competition Authority, are looking into this. They’re interested in cars with the names DR and EVO. Some of the cars they sell in Italy are the tiny DR 1, the DR 3 Coupe SUV, the family-sized DR 4 SUV, the DR 5 SUV, and two big SUVs known as the DR 6 and DR 7. They even have a pickup truck called the PK8.

DR Automobiles doesn’t build these cars from scratch. Instead, they put them together using parts from Chinese car makers like Chery, JAC, and BAIC. The Italian officials, including tax police, have visited DR Automobiles’ offices and the company that owns them, Donington, to find out what’s going on.

The Italian Competition Authority says that sometimes DR Automobiles doesn’t tell the truth about where the cars come from. They make it sound like the cars are all made in Italy, but it turns out they’re from China.

Earlier this year, DR Automobiles got attention for showing off a new off-road SUV called the K2 under their Ickx brand. The K2 looks a lot like the BAIC BJ40, but it has some special parts, such as a front grille made from carbon fiber.

This situation is causing quite a stir, and it’s something people will be keeping an eye on to see what happens next.