The apparent similarities between the BYD Ti7 and the Land Rover Defender have prompted a legal battle. On Wednesday, there’ll be a preliminary hearing at a court in The Hague, the Netherlands, with it emerging in The Times that BYD’s Dutch offices in Schiedam and Hoofddorp were raided by court-ordered bailiffs back in August.
The aim was to acquire files before BYD was able to destroy them. It claims that BYD stripped down a Defender to reverse-engineer elements of its technology in creating the Ti7.
When contacted by Auto Express, JLR said that it “does not comment on ongoing legal proceedings”. A BYD UK spokesperson declined to comment for the same reason.
JLR is no stranger to having Chinese brands bring out models that resemble its own. Infamously, the LandWind X7 looked so much like the Range Rover Evoque that JLR won a legal action against its makers.
More recently, we’ve observed that JLR’s products appear to be a frequent source of ‘inspiration’ for Chinese carmakers. Many Land Rover Defender-esque vehicles are on sale in China, while hugely popular Jaecoo 7, for instance, has become known colloquially as the ‘Temu Range Rover’.
As for the BYD Ti7, Land Rover Defender comparisons have been widespread since it was confirmed the SUV would be coming to the UK market. At five metres in length, it’s a similar size to the Land Rover Defender 110, but with an expected price tag of around £50,000, it’s set to undercut the cheapest 110 by around £20,000.
It doesn’t have anything quite as exotic as the Defender’s available six-cylinder and V8 engines under the bonnet, though. Power comes from the common Chinese car arrangement of a 1.5-litre petrol engine forming part of a plug-in hybrid setup.
A fully-electric version of the BYD Ti7 has been announced in China, but we don’t yet know if it’ll make it to the UK. While attempting to defend its intellectual property in court against BYD, Jaguar Land Rover has entered into a joint venture with rival Chinese automotive giant, Chery. The resulting Freelander 8 SUV will be sold in the UK.