Jaguar Land Rover SUES Chinese car maker over Range Rover Evoque copy

Jaguar Land Rover are suing the Chinese makers of the Land Wind X7 SUV – Jiangling Motor – for ripping-off the Range Rover Evoque’s design.

Chinese copies of western cars aren’t as rife as they once were, but t he Land Wind X7, revealed last year in China and pictured above, is about as blatant a breach of design copyright as you could imagine. And Jaguar Land Rover has had enough.

According to Reuters, JLR has served Jiangling with court papers in China for copyright breaches and unfair competition relating to the LandWind X7 and its similarities to the Range Rover Evoque. Which seems a brave, and surprising, move by JLR.

Just last year, Ralph Speth, JLR CEO, said of the LandWind X7:

I really regret that all of a sudden copy-paste is coming up again…that will not help the reputation of China, of Chinese industry at all.

There are no laws??to protect us, so we have to take it as it is. In Europe, we can be protected against this kind of copy-paste in the design language, in the features but also the technology.

You can’t be protected in China.

Something has clearly made JLR re-consider Speth’s opinion.

It may be that JLR thinks they’re in with a better shout suing Jiangling as the Evoque is now made in China, in a joint venture with Chery Motors, although most Western car makers have avoided such confrontations as Chinese courts are notoriously slow to judge, and when they do it’s usually not in favour of the plaintiff.

There’s also a perception of ‘bullying’ from China’s car buyers, who feel Western car companies have no right to criticize what China’s car makers are doing.

Perhaps JLR feel they need to take action now to make it easier to block sales of the X7 in other parts of the world, with Jiangling planning to export the LandWind X7 to South America and Asia?

Whatever the reason JLR has decided to act now, other car makers will be watching with keen interest to see the outcome.

But it could take a while.