Jaguar Land Rover is taking legal action against Chinese carmaker BYD in the Dutch courts, alleging that the firm's Ti7 SUV copies the design of the Land Rover Defender. The move follows a court order in August under which bailiffs seized digital records from BYD's offices in the Netherlands, and a hearing at The Hague this week is set to determine whether BYD has a case to answer.
The legal clash comes as BYD prepares to launch the seven-seat plug-in hybrid Ti7 in Britain in January, priced more than £20,000 below Land Rover's Defender 110. The timing places the protection of vehicle design rights at the heart of a growing commercial rivalry between the British premium brand and its Chinese challenger.
Both companies have declined to comment on the proceedings, and JLR's claim that the Ti7 infringes its intellectual property has not been tested or confirmed by any court ruling so far.
Bailiffs carried out the seizure of digital records at two BYD sites, in Schiedam and Hoofddorp, in August, ahead of this week's hearing. No details of what was taken have been disclosed, and it is not known how the material might influence the court's deliberations. The seizure itself does not prove that BYD copied the Defender — it is simply a step toward establishing whether JLR's allegations merit further legal action.
The commercial backdrop to the dispute is stark. The Ti7 has been on sale in China since September last year, and BYD intends to bring it to the UK in January priced at £47,995 — some £20,470 cheaper than the Defender 110, which starts at £68,465. That price gap does not, however, confirm the vehicles are comparable in specification, nor does it speak to the separate legal question of intellectual property infringement.
The dispute arrives amid diverging fortunes for JLR's model line-up. Defender retail sales rose to 29,500 between July and September, up from 25,370 a year earlier — a gain of 4,130 vehicles — while Range Rover sales fell to 43,300 from 47,196, a drop of 3,896. Meanwhile, Chinese brands continue to make inroads into the UK market: according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Chery's Jaecoo was Britain's bestselling car in October, registering 10,813 units for a 4.3 per cent market share.
JLR has previous experience fighting Chinese rivals over design rights, having won a three-year legal battle against Jiangling Motor Corporation in 2019. That precedent does not guarantee any particular outcome against BYD. For now, attention turns to The Hague, where judges must decide only whether BYD has a case to answer — leaving both the legal result and any impact on BYD's January UK launch unresolved.
Source: London Daily News
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