Chinese SUV triggers JLR claims of copycat Carmakers often win plaudits - and customers - by gesturing towards classic design styles. But Chinese manufacturer Landwind may have gone a step too far. The company's new X7 sport utility vehicle, launched at the Guangzhou motor show this week, bears a striking resemblance to Jaguar Land Rover's wildly successful Evoque - so much so that the British manufacturer is investigating whether it can take formal action to protect its position. The X7, which will retail for less than half the Evoque's Chinese price tag, carries the same low-slung style as the sporty Range Rover, similar wheel-arch detailing, and familiar front-end typography. "It's amazing to see this still going on in 2014 - we all thought the Chinese manufacturers had moved on from this game," said Max Warburton, an analyst at Bernstein Research. It's been a while since anyone has tried anything this flagrant. JLR said that once it had investigated the X7, it would "take whatever steps are appropriate to protect its intellectual property, its reputation and its market position." China's car industry, like many parts of the world's second-largest economy, has regularly faced allegations of industrial copying. Notable lookalikes include Geely's GE limousine, which features a Rolls-Royce-style figurine atop the grille, and Shuanghuan's CEO, which bears close similarity to the BMW X5. In 2008, Fiat even won an Italian court ruling preventing sale of Great Wall Peri in Europe, after successfully claiming the compact car was a copy of its popular Panda model. But while companies ranging from Nike to Starbucks have won trademark infringement cases in China, western car brands have struggled to prevent lookalikes from selling in the country. The launch of the X7 by Landwind, a joint venture between Chinese carmakers Chang'an Automobile and Jiangling Motors, comes just weeks after JLR opened its first overseas plant in the Chinese city of Changshu, which will produce the Evoque. "The fact that this kind of copying is ongoing in China is very disappointing," said Ralf Speth, JLR chief executive, speaking to Autocar magazine. The simple principle is that it is not something that should happen; the intellectual property is owned by Jaguar Land Rover and if you break that IP then you are in breach of international regulations that apply around the world. Neither Landwind, Changan nor Jiangling responded to requests for comment. Mr Speth is not the first UK-based engineer to cry foul over Chinese imitators. James Dyson, founder of the eponymous vacuum cleaner brand, has repeatedly hit out at Chinese copycats. Lord Bamford, chairman of earthmoving equipment company JCB, called the unlicensed copying of western technology by Asian manufacturers a "cancer" in 2010 and complained to Wen Jiabao, then Chinese premier. On Thursday, Jack Ma, chairman of Chinese ecommerce group Alibaba, said imitation consumer goods continued to be a problem in the country - and blamed "greedy" consumers who were willing to buy fake $4 Rolexes on the internet. In the car industry, many had hoped that Chinese manufacturers were increasing efforts to come up with more original styling, after the hiring of prominent European designers such as X5 creator Pierre Leclerq at Great Wall and ex-BMW designer Gert Hildebrand at Qoros. Mr Speth was quoted by Autocar as saying he would talk to JLR's Chinese joint venture partner Chery to "find a way around this situation. I cannot imagine Chinese officials will be happy at any actions that undermine the credibility of the country.