Chinese police cars 'transformed'

The new police vehicles. Photo / Supplied

Police in the Chinese city of Fengchenggang hit upon one way of deflecting criticism that local governments are wasting taxpayers' money - they turned their Mercedes-Benz ML350 into a Honda CR-V.

Easy-peasy, just swap badges front and back.

But the car-crazy Chinese these days know the difference between a Merc and a Honda - certainly in price.

The Merc sells for around NZ$170,000, the Honda for NZ$35,000. "Netizens" of Guangxi Province had a ball, posting pictures of the Merc that says it's a Honda and ridiculing local government.

Police denied they made changes. The Honda just looks like a Merc, they said.