Latest copycat car from China is a Range Rover SUV

While Land Rover unveiled the all-new fifth-generation Range Rover SUV recently, a knockoff of Range Rover surfaced in China. Known as the Hunkt Canticie, the SUV is on sale in the Chinese market for more than a year now.

The similarities between the original Range Rover and its Chinese knockoff are quite much. The Chinese automaker’s dealerships are even putting Range Rover badges on the knockoff and is selling it through its showrooms including the genuine Range Rover, Land Rover, Sport and Autobiography monikers.

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While it may not be an exact replica of the original Range Rover, the knockoff bears a lot of similarities. From the front, the Canticie with sleek headlamps that extend to become the grille of the car is very much Range Rover-inspired. From the front three-quarters, the Canticie will give you all the Range Rover vibes because the shape of the hood, wheel arches, windshield, and pillars look much like the Range Rover models.

The rear looks slightly different from the Range Rover with sharp LED tail lamps and a brushed chrome accent. The cabins of both the cars are very different though. The Chinese knockoff gets a fully digital instrument cluster and a massive infotainment system.

The Canticie gets powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine that generates a maximum power of 218 PS and 370 Nm. It takes about 9.19 seconds to reach 100 km/h and can reach a top speed of 185 km/h.

Jaguar Land Rover earlier won in court against knockoffs

Earlier in 2016, Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover filed a case against Jiangling for selling Landwind X7. In 2019, the Chinese court found the Chinese manufacturer guilty of selling a knockoff of Land Rover Range Rover Evoque. The court then ordered the Chinese manufacturer to cease the sales of the Landwind X7 SUV immediately and pay compensation to Jaguar Land Rover.

Jiangling priced the Landwind X7 at less than the one-third price of the original Evoque. That gave an undue advantage to the Chinese carmaker. Most of the knockoff products are sold at a fraction of the cost of the original vehicle, causing even more damage to the brand selling original products.

Chinese automakers regularly manufacture knockoff products based on luxury cars and popular models like the Toyota Innova and even the Mitsubishi Pajero. Many low-cost car manufacturers in China simply copy the design of the popular products.

The Chinese automobile industry even copies motorcycle designs and sell them for cheap in countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh. There are cloned versions of the Bajaj Pulsar, KTM Duke, Yamaha R3, Kawasaki Ninja and many others.

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