Land Rover Thinks BYD Copied The Defender. Now There's A Court Battle: Report

Jaguar Land Rover has escalated its dispute with BYD to a court battle over allegations that the Chinese automaker copied the Defender. Reports from The Times and The Guardian say bailiffs seized digital records from BYD offices in the Netherlands in August, in Schiedam and Hoofddorp. JLR claims BYD dismantled a Defender to reverse-engineer technology for the BYD Ti7, a seven-seat plug-in hybrid SUV sold in China since September 2025 as the Fangchengbao Ti7. BYD’s legal team called the raid a “fishing expedition” and objected to the volume of files taken, while JLR accused BYD of obstructing the process. The case is set for a preliminary ruling in The Hague on November 11.