Ford F-150 pickup copy to be unveiled by Chinese government car manufacturer

China's Jianghuai Automobile Co. plans to unveil a pickup at the Beijing auto show in April that adopts many of the exterior design details of the Ford F-150, The Detroit News reports.

The JAC 4R3 shares the F-150's grille, hood and extended cab, and it even sports Ford's distinctive blue oval.

Ford Motor Co. has not decided whether to take legal action against JAC, according to the newspaper.

"We're aware of it and we're investigating," Ford spokesman Mike Levine told the News. "We're just trying to get an idea of what's going on with the vehicle and haven't decided what our next steps might be."

Over the years, Chinese automakers often have been accused of producing clones of foreign cars and trucks. Automakers that have filed lawsuits against their imitators have had little success in China's courts.

State-owned JAC is based in Hefei, in east China's Anhui province. Last year, the company sold 425,505 passenger vehicles and commercial trucks, according to LMC Automotive.