Despite intense legal resistance from Jaguar Land Rover, the LandWind X7, essentially a Chinese clone of the British firm’s Evoque crossover, has been given the production green light. This after Jaguar Land Rover complained that the X7 looked far too similar to the Evoque.
Nothing fruitful has come of the legal dispute for Jaguar Land Rover though, especially as the relevant authorities in China have dismissed the complaint – leading Jaguar Land Rover executive Ralf Speth to claim that automotive manufacturers were powerless to prevent Chinese brands copying their vehicle designs.
“China, from my point of view has enough creativity and engineering power to do something on their own and doesn’t have to fall back to the time when copying was of interest,” Speth told Autocar India.
The dispute started after LandWind unveiled the X7 at the Guangzhou Motor Show in November last year. Speth then told Autocar that he would bring what he considered intellectual property theft up with Chinese officials
“The fact that this kind of copying is ongoing in China is very disappointing. The simple principal is that it is not something that should happen. The Intellectual Property is owned by Jaguar Land Rover and if you break that IP then you are in breach of international regulations that apply around the world,” Speth said.
Jaguar Land Rover’s expansion into the Chinese Market includes its partnership with Chery Motors, while LandWind is a joint venture between local automotive giant Changan Auto and Jiangling Motors Corporation (JMC).
