Court-ordered bailiffs raid BYD offices in the Netherlands amid Land Rover Defender design dispute
Dutch bailiffs seized documents from BYD's Schiedam and Hoofddorp offices in August as part of a legal case over alleged copying of Land Rover Defender features for the BYD Ti7.
A preliminary hearing on the dispute between Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and Chinese automaker BYD is scheduled for Wednesday at a court in The Hague. According to reports, court-ordered bailiffs entered BYD's offices in Schiedam and Hoofddorp in August to secure files before they could be destroyed. JLR alleges that BYD dismantled a Land Rover Defender to reverse-engineer components used in its new Ti7 SUV.
JLR declined to comment on the ongoing proceedings, and a BYD spokesperson in the United Kingdom also declined to comment.
The Ti7, which is about five metres long and priced around £50,000, is positioned to be roughly £20,000 cheaper than the entry-level Land Rover Defender 110. It is powered by a 1.5-litre petrol engine paired with a plug-in hybrid system, rather than the Defender's six-cylinder or V8 options. BYD has announced a fully electric version for the Chinese market, but its availability in the UK remains uncertain.
JLR has previously secured a legal victory against the Chinese brand LandWind over the X7 model, which resembled the Range Rover Evoque. The company is also pursuing a joint venture with Chinese automaker Chery to produce the Freelander 8 SUV for the UK market.