Faking it: Landwind X7 goes on sale in China
Range Rover Evoque copycat goes on sale at a third of the cost of the originalLandwind’s new X7 that bears more than a striking similarity to Range Rover’s Evoque has finally gone on sale in China.
Costing just $30,000, the X7 has attracted deposits from over 5500 people and arrives in dealerships today. The Evoque range, meanwhile, starts at $89,000 – almost three-times as much as its brother from another mother.
When released last year at the Shanghai motor show the X7 courted instant controversy over its looks, which mimic the baby Range Rover.
Range Rover originally tried to launch legal action against Landwind to stop the “copy-and-paste” small SUV from being built, but subsequently declared it could take no legal action to prevent the X7 from being made.
Owned by Indian car-maker Tata Motors, Land Rover is already facing tough times in the Chinese market with deliveries down by 27 per cent for this year to June. This has already forced some price cuts and the JLR group is cutting back on its sales targets.
Despite the arrival of a cut-price imitator some industry analysts think the Landwind X7 might actually boost sales.
Speaking to newswire Automotive News, Shanghai-based John Zeng from research group LMC Automotive, said: "Somehow, it helps Land Rover to promote the Evoque.”
Zeng says that the extensive media coverage, even in China, has meant “consumers understand that the X7 is a copycat”. He believes more discerning buyers will then seek out, and buy, the original.
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