In the early days it was understandable because it was either Tamiyas expensive Tanks or Heng Longs original Tiger 1 and its follow on "Pan Tiger",
People who bought the Original Heng Long Tiger 1 because they could not afford the Tamiya Tank learnt how to modify the cheap and pretty nasty Heng Long version and so was born this hobby that we have come to love

, (Thanks Heng Long I owe you

)
Anticipation of another cheap Tank provided the surge in Pan Tiger sales with people convinced that if they could do a decent job of fixing the Tiger 1 the follow up would be a doddle, Dohh
The only reason I can give for the continued production of the Pan Tiger has to be because the abortion sells almost certainly to doting grandfathers for their grandchildren,
Gramps knowing nothing about tanks except that they have tracks and a gun,
Heng Long being primarily a toy maker have continued with the lash up and why not if it turns a profit ?