Luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover, part of Tata Motors, said it won a case in China against local rival Jiangling Motors Corp for making cars that copy features of Range Rover Evoque. Beijing Chaoyang District Court said on Friday that Evoque, whose latest model was launched in 2018, had five unique features that were copied directly in the Landwind X7 built by Jiangling Motors, leading to widespread consumer confusion.
The court ruled that all sales, manufacturing and marketing of the Landwind vehicle must stop immediately and Jaguar Land Rover be paid compensation. The two sports utility vehicles have a similar shape, with the roof and windows tapering from front to back, and near-identical tail lights and character lines on the side paneling.
Britain's biggest carmaker had sued Jiangling in a rare move in 2016. Despite widespread and often blatant copying, global automakers generally don't take legal action in China as they feel the odds of winning against local firms are low.
Also, a lawsuit can be bad for branding if the Chinese public think a foreign company is bullying domestic competitors. The new Range Rover Evoque will be launched in China in April 2019. Jiangling could not be immediately reached for comment.
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