Jaguar Land Rover is suing Chinese automaker Jiangling Motor for allegedly copying the Range Rover Evoque.
It’s a rare move by a foreign automaker to fight copycats in the world’s biggest auto market as it could be viewed as bullying by a foreign manufacturer of a home producer.
Despite widespread and often blatant copying, automakers generally don’t take legal action in China as they feel the odds of winning are low and last autumn JLR said it would not be taking action after the Chinese copy was unveiled at a local motor show, but seems to have now changed its mind.
A spokesman for JLR told Reuters that a court in Beijing’s eastern Chaoyang district “served Jiangling with newly filed actions surrounding copyright and unfair competition.”
The suit relates to Jiangling’s Landwind X7 SUV copying the design of the Evoque, JLR’s first China-made model that went on sale last year.
A Landwind spokesman declined to comment to Reuters.
