Chinese automakers are typically known for stealing designs from Western automakers. They face no legal consequences for doing so because they have government protection from prosecution. While they get zero marks for original styling, how do Chinese-built cars fare when it comes to reliability?

Well, the Chinese military is claiming one domestically made vehicle to be the most reliable in the world for its segment. Remember the BJ80 SUV, the Mercedes G-Class copycat? That's the one.

According to AutoGuide, citing the South China Morning Post, the Chinese military is claiming the BJ80 is the "most reliable off-road vehicle in the world". How did the People's Liberation Army reach that conclusion?

Apparently, recent test scores rated it seven times more reliable than the Mercedes. The researcher who conducted the tests even goes as far to say the results are "almost a miracle."

"It is an incredibly high score considering the ordeals it had to go through," said Song Kai, an associate researcher the College of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering at Hunan University in central China. "In the military proving ground, a vehicle can age ten times faster than in a normal environment," said Song. "If the result is correct, the vehicle might have passed the entire reliability test with only two or three failures. For a mass production model, it is almost a miracle." We couldn't make this up even if we tried.

The military pitted both the BJ80 and the G-Class against one another during testing which included the greatest possible abuse over the most challenging terrain. Military drivers were at the helm for both SUVs. Oh, and it gets even better. The military claims it outperformed other SUVs, such as the Toyota Land Cruiser.

Built by BAIC, the automaker confirmed the military's findings because of course it did. No third party can verify these conclusions because of course they can't. It's China.