British papers scold China over cheap Range Rover ‘imitation’
The English media is up in arms over the move by a Chinese car manufacturer to design a vehicle spotting a identical look to the Range Rover Evogue.
This development comes days after the renowned car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover accused the Chinese car maker Landwind of a “breach of international regulations” after the former unveiled its new X7 model at the Guangzhou motor show.
“In a land where you can buy fake Rolexes, fake Ray-Bans and fake IPhones, perhaps it’s no surprise that you can now buy a fake Range Rover Evogue,” the Daily Mirror wrote.
The same paper goes on to claim that Jaguar Land Rover should “take it as a compliment that the China manufactured LandWind X7 boasts the body shape, lights and radiator grill of the British best seller.”
CHEAP VERSION
Dr Ralf Speth, chief executive of Land Rover said he will be complaining to Chinese officials over the X7.
“The fact that this kind of copying is ongoing in China is very disappointing. As a company we have invested heavily in China with our joint venture Chery,” Speth moaned.
China accounts for 24 percent of Jaguar Land Rover’s global sales and the firm recently opened up a I GBP 1 billion factory in the country.
Worse still, and perhaps to the fury of the English, the Chinese ‘version’ of the car retails at about Sh 2 million – some Sh 4 million less than the Range Rover Vogue, which according to sources is the favourite car to celebrities including Victoria Beckham and Mario Balotelli.
Kenyans will thus be encouraged to note that it is not only here where residents access fake batteries, phones and even babies from China.