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Why Land Rover's reluctant to show concepts: Chinese clones

While the Chinese auto industry continues to grow and expand with new and original products, a number of automakers still refuse to play by the rules. Rather than coming up with original designs, these automakers shamelessly copy designs from other automakers, slapping their badge on the front as if it were an original product. According to Auto Express, Land Rover has grown tired of dealing with these frauds to the point that it's essentially stopped showing concept cars in order to stave off these clones. One of the most notable and brazen examples of these Chinese copycats is the LandWind X7. While that car looks like an obvious ripoff of the Range Rover Evoque, complaints by Jaguar Land Rover were dismissed, and the X7 hit the market for about a third of the price of the Evoque. Further efforts by JLR have done nothing to halt or change the car's production. It seems Chinese authorities are more interested in protecting the home team than upholding copyright laws. Land Rover design boss Gerry McGovern said the automaker was "wary of showing new concepts" because they just give these competitors time to work up a copy. Land Rover's latest model, the Velar, debuted in Geneva in production form. Skipping concepts may not stop competitors from making copies, but it does give Land Rover a huge head start when it comes to production. Related Video: Featured Gallery Production LandWind X7 News Source: Auto Express via Road & Track Design/Style Government/Legal Jaguar Land Rover SUV Concept Cars Luxury jaguar land rover

Could Jaguar become an EV-only brand?

Just yesterday we wrote about the Heisenbergian uncertainty surrounding the future of the Jaguar F-Type. A new report in Autocar prompts us to consider extending that ambiguity to the entire Jaguar brand. The UK magazine reports the automaker's product planners have devised a ten-year plan to switch to a pure EV lineup of cars and crossovers. According to Autocar's sources this is a planning exercise and doesn't have the green light, but it's "fairly advanced" and has adherents inside the company. The first shot fired would be an all-electric XJ replacement. That sedan, a "no-holds-barred luxury car" to challenge the Tesla Model S and Porsche Taycan, would provide emissions-free motoring before the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7 Series come with their EV propositions. Around 2023, an EV crossover a touch larger than the full-sized Audi E-tron would replace both the XF and XE sedans. Two years later, a new mid-sized I-Pace would debut as both the F-Pace and E-Pace fade out. And two years after that, around 2027, the J-Pace luxury crossover would sigh its last ICE gasp. And what about the F-Type? The report says "with no replacement for F-Type in the works," an electric sports car "is also a possibility." There's no mention of the XK revival. Right now, Jaguar sells seven models - four sedans and three crossovers. As the Autocar article's written, come 2027 Jaguar would have an electric XJ sedan, a full-sized EV crossover, the I-Pace, and perhaps an electric sports car. That's a brave new world - one we're not sure Jaguar dealers could survive in. Problem is that Jaguar and its dealers are having plenty of problems now. Chinese-market volatility, the cloud around diesels, and Brexit uncertainty have contributed to a sales slump so dire that Jaguar's Castle Bromwich plant is going to a three-day week for the rest of the year. The sales flu has spread to Land Rover, too, the brand's Solihull plant closing for two weeks to realign dealer inventory. Considering all that, and with no easy relief in sight, the product planners are apparently debating whether a new, traditional three-model sedan range is worth the investment. The upside of going all-electric is said to be higher sales, with internal estimates supposing 300,000 units annually. Last year Jaguar sold 178,500 units. The marque could rake in larger profit margins on those sales, too, thanks to premium buyers being ready to shell out big ducats for EVs.

Land Rover plotting high-performance Disco Sport, Evoque

Jaguar Land Rover is getting serious about performance with its new SVR line of high-output machinery. We've already seen the Range Rover Sport SVR, and we're anticipating more to follow with SVR versions of the new Jaguar XE, Range Rover LWB, outgoing Land Rover Defender and plenty more. The lineup will eventually include performance versions of most, but not all of the British automaker's products. But while the smallest Land Rovers may not get the full-on SVR treatment, JLR reportedly has something in the works. According to Australian website Motoring, Land Rover is watching the segment and considering its options. It sees Audi with its SQ5, BMW planning performance versions of the X3 and X4, and Mercedes plotting an AMG version of the GLC that's set to replace the GLK. The question is just what Land Rover will do. Both the Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque are based on the same D8 platform that incorporates transversely mounted inline-fours, so fitting something larger might be prohibitive, but a high-output turbo version of the new Ingenium four-cylinder engine design could do the trick. Considering what the likes of Volvo and Mercedes have managed to do with their high-strung turbo fours, Land Rover's approach could prove to be no slouch at all – even without the 5.0-liter supercharged V8 powering the flagship SVR models. In related news, Autovisie – the automotive section of Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf – projects that an SVR version of the Jaguar F-Type will be among the high-performance models coming up next. Slotting above the F-Type R with its 550 horsepower, the F-Type SVR will be even more powerful. The Project 7 speedster packaged a 575-hp version of the same supercharged V8, potentially pointing the way forward for future SVR models. Featured Gallery Land Rover Range Rover Evoque Autobiography View 17 Photos Related Gallery 2015 Land Rover Discovery Sport View 16 Photos News Source: Motoring.com.au, AutovisieImage Credit: Land Rover Jaguar Land Rover SUV Performance jaguar land rover svr