A Dutch court has rejected Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) attempt to preserve evidence collected from BYD offices as part of a dispute over alleged design similarities between the Land Rover Defender and BYD’s Fangchengbao Ti7, according to a report by electrifying.com.
The District Court of The Hague issued its ruling on November 11, ordering JLR to return or destroy all materials obtained during earlier searches within 24 hours. Failure to comply would trigger a penalty of €50,000 for every hour of delay.
Court Rejects Broad Evidence Collection
The dispute began in August when JLR obtained authorization from a Dutch court to conduct unannounced searches at BYD offices in Schiedam and Hoofddorp.
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Court bailiffs copied paper documents and backed up data from relevant IT systems. The collected materials reportedly included information about the Ti7’s launch plans, technical specifications and financial details, as well as Defender-related information stored on BYD systems.
JLR sought the evidence because it believed the Ti7’s exterior design resembled the Defender and suspected BYD had reverse-engineered the British SUV.
BYD challenged the scope of the operation, arguing that it extended beyond the specific allegations and amounted to an unrestricted search of its internal information.
Presiding judge Hugo van Heemstra accepted the substance of BYD’s arguments, finding insufficient grounds to justify the broad collection of materials. The court also noted that the Ti7 had not yet launched in the European Union and that JLR had not demonstrated quantifiable damage caused by the model.
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The court additionally rejected JLR’s request for a €500,000 penalty against BYD over alleged non-cooperation. JLR was ordered to pay BYD €25,376.57 in legal costs.
BYD Ti7 Prepares for UK Market Entry
The ruling comes as BYD prepares to introduce the Ti7 to European markets. The seven-seat plug-in hybrid SUV opened for UK pre-orders in July.
Its Excellence AWD version was initially priced at £47,995, with customer deliveries scheduled to begin in January 2027.
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By comparison, the seven-seat Land Rover Defender 110 starts at £68,465 in the UK, while its plug-in hybrid version costs close to £72,000.
The Ti7’s lower starting price places it in competition with the Defender for buyers seeking a large, premium-oriented SUV. The court ruling resolves the immediate evidence-preservation dispute, while the underlying disagreement over the vehicles’ designs remains a separate issue.