The paint isn't a big deal, it just didn't look too impressive at a national show like that. The new Merlin karts' paint is bad too; it chips off pretty easily.

I'm sure the chassis is plenty fast. Reliability is now the key concern.

Chassis seems to be going well enough in the states after all it is breaking lap records and continues to win. Im sure if they needed banging, welding etc to stay on track this wouldnt be happening. I will also say its winning in Australia too. I think your quote is a major exageration to say the least. Big Chassis manufacturers DO have something to worry about. People will see they do get ripped off because no chassis is worth the current price. NONE!
In a round about way SQ are doing you all a favour

I dont have an strong opinion of these phenomenon apart from thinking that the influx of cheaper chassis is what the industry needs to draw in new karters. It could very well benefit the Italian kart makers given that the serious competitors and enthusiats would then be looking at the usual brands i.e. CRG, TonyKart, Birel, Intrepid, Arrow for the subsequent upgrades.

Here are some links of the discussions of the foreign manufacturers (Chinese, Indian, Thai, Korean) on another forum.

http://www.ekartingnews.com/viewtopic.php?t=56641&highlight=sq+chassis

http://www.ekartingnews.com/viewtopic.php?t=63000&highlight=chinese

http://www.ekartingnews.com/viewtopic.php?t=59847&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=chinese&start=0

http://www.ekartingnews.com/viewtopic.php?t=70723&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=sq%20chassis&start=0