Jaguar Land Rover has reportedly decided to sue Chinese marque LandWind, owned by Jiangling Motors Corp (JMC) for creating an SUV named LandWind X7, which from any angle, screams “Evoque copy”. The car has been in news for all wrong reasons ever since its debut at 2015 Guangzhou Motor Show.
Reportedly, the X7 has reasonable quality leathers and soft plastics for a Chinese car. However, many of the panel gaps are irregular, and has inconsistent and poor paintwork. Furthermore, the gaps of the rear doors and boot were neither regular nor flush with the sides. The X7 is larger by more than 50 mm including a 10 mm longer wheelbase.
The LandWind X7 is powered by a 2.0-litre (1997 cc) turbocharged petrol engine made by Shenyang Aerospace Mitsubishi, producing 188 hp @ 5500 rpm and 250 Nm of torque @ 2800-4400 rpm. It is paired to an 8-Speed automatic transmission made by Shengrui Transmission Co Ltd, which sends power to the front wheels.
The LandWind comes in 3 trims namely, Luxury, Premium and Flagship, and comes with features like automatic halogen headlights, LED DRLs, power folding and heated exterior mirrors, rain sensing wipers, panoramic sunroof, cruise control, heated front seats, 10.2-inch infotainment system, automatic climate control, dual front airbags, side curtain airbags, ABS+EBD, HAC, HDC and so on.
Considering this as an intellectual property theft, JLR CEO Dr. Ralf Speth had expressed his displeasure regarding the same to the Chinese officials last year. And reportedly, these complaints were dismissed by authorities in China and they gave Jiangling Motors the go-ahead to manufacture the LandWind X7. “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,” said Mr Speth.
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