KYMCO wants to know why QJ Motor's new Fort 600 scooter looks so familiar

There’s a new twist to the arrival of QJ Motor’s Fort 600 maxi-scooter, with KYMCO publicly denying that it ever permitted QJ Motor to use technology from its own AK 550.

The statement comes after reports drew comparisons between the Fort 600 and KYMCO’s flagship maxi-scooter, including similarities in their chassis and engine architecture.

KYMCO is now making it clear that, as far as it is concerned, there is no technology-sharing agreement between the two companies. With a statement from the Taiwanese brand simply stating:

“KYMCO has never entered into any agreement with QJ Motor to share the AK 550 platform, nor has it authorised or permitted, in any other way, the use of said platform by QJ Motor,”

That doesn’t amount to an accusation that QJ Motor has copied the AK 550, at least not yet. KYMCO says it will wait until production versions of the Fort 600 are available before carrying out its own investigation, adding: 

“When the production units of the QJ Motor Fort 600 are available on the market, KYMCO will initiate the investigations it deems appropriate and will determine, based on its conclusions, the possible measures to be taken,”

So what’s the fuss about?

The AK 550 platform is a significant piece of KYMCO engineering. The company says development began around a decade ago and involved more than 45 patents, with one of its key features being an engine architecture that separates the engine and transmission into two independent units.

It also uses an aluminium frame, while the engine itself is a parallel twin. KYMCO has continued to develop the architecture since the AK 550 arrived, with the current CV3 575 three-wheeler using an engine derived from the same basic design.

The Fort 600 is, unsurprisingly, also a large parallel-twin maxi-scooter, and reports surrounding the QJ Motor machine have highlighted similarities between its construction and the AK 550.

That is where things get interesting, because QJ Motor and KYMCO have not simply arrived at the same basic idea of putting a twin-cylinder engine into a big scooter. The comparisons being made concern the underlying architecture of the machines, not just the engine size and placement.

There is still an important difference between similar technology getting selected and technology being used without permission, though.

KYMCO has not said that QJ Motor has infringed its patents, nor has it announced legal action. Instead, it has put the matter on the record and says it intends to examine the production variant of the Fort 600 before deciding whether further action is necessary.

For now, then, the Fort 600 remains an interesting new rival for the established maxi-scooter players. But KYMCO clearly wants to establish exactly how QJ Motor arrived at its particular combination of engine and chassis technology before it lets the matter rest.

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