
Ex-Schumacher cars take pride of place
A small mews street in London is currently the home of four ex-Schumacher F1 cars. The Jordan, two Benettons and an F2002 Ferrari are part of the stock of a…
The era of the Chinese ‘copycat’ car may be set to end after Jaguar Land Rover won a landmark court case that could open the floodgates for other European manufacturers to pursue legal action against the fakers.
JLR won its long-running case against Chinese brand Jiangling Motor Corporation over the distinct similarities between its British-built Evoque model and the Chinese LandWind X7 SUV.
A court in Beijing ruled that five design features of the £14,000 LandWind were direct copies from the Evoque, which retails for three times the price, and demanded that production of the LandWind ceased.
It is the first time that a Chinese court has found in favour of a foreign car company in such a case. The verdict has caused a stir in the industry and could lead to a host of fresh copyright claims being launched against Chinese firms, which have long been accused of aping western designs.
BMW has a history of taking action against copyright issues in China. Back in 2008 it lost a case against Shuanghuan over the design of its CEO model, which strongly resembled that of an X5 SUV. BMW did, however, win a claim in 2016 over the fashion brand BMN, which was using a very similar blue and white segmented logo to that of the Munich brand.
Porsche has also been considering legal action against Zotye after its SR9, revealed in 2016, emerged as a near-clone to the Stuttgart firm’s Macan model.