Chinese Clone Of Range Rover Evoque,The LandWind X7,Gets A Facelift

You’ve got to give Jaguar Land Rover credit where it’s due. The UK automaker has been leading the legal battle against those Chinese automakers who shamelessly chose to steal its designs. Look at the Range Rover Evoque. Then look at the Land Wind X7. It’s shocking, really, but at least JLR has made an attempt to put an end to this outright intellectual property theft.

Facelifted Landwind X7

Pre-facelift Landwind X7

Range Rover Evoque

Landwind, the Chinese automaker who gave the world the Range Rover Evoque clone, has just unveiled a facelift for its Landwind X7. It loses out much of its British design cues and new 1.5-litre turbocharged engine for its entry level model.

So, what has changed with the new design exercise? For starters, it gets a more rectangular headlamp design (full LED items) as well as restyled bumpers and grille. On the side new items include the roof rack and alloy wheel design.

The rear end is where the designers at Landwind spent most of their creative juices. It loses out on the Evoques tailgate sculpture in favour of a more face-like rear end. The chrome strip connecting the taillamps are positioned much lower compared to the car it copied from. Bumper and exhaust outlets are taken straight from the Evoque.

Facelifted Landwind X7

Pre-facelift Landwind X7

Range Rover Evoque

Landwind has introduced a 1.5-litre turbocharged engine with 160 hp mated to an updated eight-speed automatic transmission. The new turbo engine joins the existing Mitsubishi-sourced 187 hp 2.0-litre turbo.

On the pre-facelift model, the X7 comes generously equipped with 10.2-inch touchscreen infotainment system, keyless entry and start, electronic parking brake, dual-zone automatic climate control, Tyre Pressure Monitoring System, 360-degree surround camera, 6 airbags, ESC, Traction Control, ABS with EBD, Hill Ascend Control and Hill Descend Control.

The appeal of LandWind X7 is that it’s locally produced and about three times cheaper than Range Rover Evoque.No suprise that X7 sells more.It is the best selling Landwind ever, and responsible for a massive 70% of the brand’s total sales.
Sure, it’s probably not going to be as safe, reliable or luxurious as the Range Rover Evoque.
And at least you’re not getting a crummy 1-liter engine, as the X7 is said to provide the driver with 190 HP from its 2-liter turbo engine.

Owners:

Landwind is a Chinese car maker jointly- owned by Jiangling Motors and Changan Auto, coincidentally both joint venture are partners of Ford, with Jiangling-Ford and Changan-Ford respectively.

Ford owned Land Rover until 2008 when they sold it on to the TATA conglomerate of India.