Jaguar Land Rover is accusing BYD of copying the Defender in a case that has already reached the point that there was a search and seizure operation at the trademark office in the Netherlands.
© Anusak Laowilas/NurPhoto via Getty Images
09/11/2026
by
News to Minutes
A BYD is being news for less good reasons, by being accused by Jaguar Land Rover of copying his Defender with Ti7 – an all-terrain SUV of square lines. And there will already be concrete actions in the case.
According to The Guardian, who quotes the Sunday Times, last August officials of justice representatives of the British manufacturer launched a search and seizure operation for chinese brand offices in Amsterdam (Netherlands). They will digital records seized.
This week, the case will go to court in The Hague (Netherlands) to decide whether BYD will have to answer charges of intellectual property infringement before justice.
Jaguar Land Rover suspects the chinese manufacturer may have used reverse engineering to design its model (i.e. who took a Defender and dismantled it, taking advantage of some of the technology). Last August's stock would have been intended to secure digital records before they were destroyed.
BYD Ti 7 in short
The Ti 7 is a hybrid all-terrain plug-in SUV with seven places released in China last September. It was not long before it was compared by the press to the Land Rover Defender, due to its design – top Gear even nicknamed it the “Chinese Defender Clone”.
With full traction and the Super Hybrid DM-p system, debits 408 cv combined power and is able to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.3 seconds. Combined system autonomy can reach 735 km.
The 150 cv gasoline engine is mainly used as an energy generator for the 35.6 kWh battery that fuels the 150 cv electric motor. The exclusive electric autonomy can reach 119 km.
Cut to all-terrain, has a high ground height, besides ten driving modes. Its design is robust and with rectangular lines.
The passenger compartment is technological, with a 10.25-inch digital instrument panel and a large 15.6-inch central touch screen for the infointertent stand out. Second row seats can be adjusted in four different directions.
The trunk has 970 litres of capacity with five seats and 126 litres with seven seats, with a maximum capacity of 1,830 litres if the rows of rear seats are fully hit.
The case is known about two months from the planned launch of the BYD model in the UKWhat will happen in January by price more than £20,000 lower than the Defender.