Chinese Range Rover rival shakes up UK market at half the price

The Chinese Range Rover clone wins over British buyers with a 33% lower price

While Jaguar Land Rover bleeds out over reliability and pricing, a Chinese SUV that copies the Evoque's design is taking the UK by storm. Built by Chery, JLR's own partner, it costs a third less, offers 0% finance and a seven-year warranty. Amid the cost-of-living crisis, British buyers have embraced what they already nickname the 'Temu Range Rover'. Registrations are soaring and the British industry watches its own funeral in astonishment.

Why is a Chinese imitator leading the sales charts?

The model, sold under the Omoda or Jaecoo sub-brands, brazenly copies the Range Rover Evoque's styling. But its selling point is not the resemblance, it's the price: it starts at around £30,000 versus £45,000 for the original Evoque. Add to that a 0% finance deal and the longest warranty in the segment, seven years. In a context where the cost of living is pushing up even petrol prices, the equation is simple: more equipment for less money.

The twist is even sharper because Chery is Jaguar Land Rover's own Chinese partner. In other words, the same company that supplies technology to JLR is now competing directly against it with a cheaper product that, according to early assessments, is not necessarily worse. The paradox is complete: the British manufacturer (today owned by India's Tata group) watches its imitator, built by its own supplier, steal its lunch in its home market.

Reliability: the big question mark

Critics point to long-term quality. Classic Range Rovers (from before the Tata era) were considered dependable; today's models pile up complaints on owners' forums, with servicing bills over €1,000 and engines failing due to design flaws. But the Chinese models don't have a better fruta. Some point out that five- or six-year-old Teslas look old and worn, and extend the suspicion to any Chinese manufacturer: in five years, a washing machine on wheels.

Still, the seven-year warranty covers a lot of antiestéticars. And resale value, though uncertain, may matter less if the car is bought with cheap finance and paid off before being sold. The real Achilles' heel is after-sales service: a still-thin network of workshops, long parts lead times and the risk of the brand disappearing from the European market. If Chery solves that, the Temu nickname will become a minor stigma.

European protectionism as the only way out

As the Chinese SUV gains share, voices are predicting a reaction from Brussels: banning or imposing tariffs on Chinese cars to save local industry, as has already been done with tariffs on electric vehicles. On this reading, the European Union would be willing to condemn its citizens to more expensive and worse European cars just to protect its manufacturers. The dumping argument keeps coming up, but without hard data in the debate over whether Chinese prices are artificially low or simply reflect lower production costs.

What is certain is that the phenomenon is no flash in the pan. In 2026, Toyota Australia peine orders for the Land Cruiser 70 Series with a diesel engine to comply with Euro 6d rules, proving there is a market for rugged, long-lasting off-roaders. But those cars don't reach Europe. Meanwhile, the British are going for the Chinese clone. And the UK car industry, which already lost mass production, endures the final insult: its own Chinese partner is selling it its own product at half the price.