LandWind Evoques Land Rover with X7 Crossover in China

The product of a joint venture between otherwise respected Chinese car companies Changan Auto and Jiangling Motors Corporation, by either name it is a rip-off of the Range Rover Evoque. Land Rover complained to Chinese authorities about what it describes as a theft of intellectual property, but the complaint was dismissed. With all obstacles out of the way, Autocar reports that the X7 goes on sale in China next month.

Chinese buyers seeking a bargain will have to give the X7 a hard look – its price is just one-third of the Evoque's. The similarities are more than skin deep. The X7 is powered by a 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder engine, but the difference in MSRP shows up when comparing the outputs: 188 horsepower for the X7, 237 hp for the Evoque. Elsewhere, Autocar's close comparison of the real deal and its hanger-on revealed the differences in detailing that you'd expect of any much less expensive copycat.

Although this nota bene concerns different vehicles, when it comes to corporate philosophy there was LandWind's X6, a repurposed Isuzu Rodeo that scored a zero in Europe's NCAP crash test, and it's CV9 - which cribbed a Vauxhall - that scored a two in the same crash test procedure. So there could be a few more differences between the Evoque and the X7 that might not be worth the money saved. Chinese buyers will have their chance to find out in a month's time.