The German automaker BMW said Friday it had begun legal action against China Automobile Deutschland, which plans to exhibit a model at the Frankfurt auto show that BMW says is a copy of one of its cars.

"We have begun legal proceedings" against China Automobile, a BMW spokesman told AFP, partly confirming a report in the German magazine Automobilwoche.

The weekly said that BMW had filed a formal complaint, but the spokesman declined to provide further details on the affair.

The German group believes that the CEO model produced by the Chinese group Shuanghuan, which is to be presented at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt next week by China Automobile is a copy of the BMW X5 all terrain model which is no longer in production.

Another German automaker, DaimlerChrysler, has also accused Shuanghuan of copying Daimler's small city car Smart with the Nobel model that is also to be presented at the IAA fair, one of the biggest in the world.

"We continue to observe the situation and reserve the possibility of resorting to judicial proceedings if this car is presented at the show," a Daimler spokesman told AFP.

China Automobile did not appear worried by the comments however.

Its boss, Karl Schloss, told Automobilwoche he intended to show the CEO at the Frankfurt fair, which is open to the public from September 13-23.

"The car does not ressemble any BMW model," he insisted.