If you drive China’s fake Range Rover, you’re betraying Britain

William SitwellFri, August 28, 2026 at 3:00 PM UTC

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A fleet of Chinese invaders has started to flood Britain’s roads over the last 18 months - Jaecoo/PA

Have you seen the ghastly thing? Or worse still, succumbed to its wily charm? I’m referring to the Chinese-made Jaecoo 7, a mid-size, five-door, five-seat sport utility vehicle that looks a lot like the Velar and Evoque models manufactured by Jaguar Land Rover.

But the most obvious difference is that a Jaecoo will cost you about half what a fancy Range Rover does.

You can buy a Jaecoo 8 for £45,000. If you want the actual Range Rover Sport, it will cost you £77,000, and there are flagship models fetching more than £100,000.

Of course, the price is not the only difference. A Range Rover is the real thing. A Jaecoo 7 or 8 is, to my mind, a fake. One represents the pride of one of the world’s greatest brands, and the other is a cheap back-street side-hustle.

The problem is, many Britons are falling for it. In March of this year, the Jaecoo 7 – a name which begins like Jaguar but then trails off to sound like a pigeon – was the UK’s top-selling car.

One wonders who these folk are, falling for this sleight-of-hand, like so many curious and eager shoppers on Oxford Street crowding around a man dealing out fake Rolexes. Who are these mutts willing in the Chinese invaders, ushering into our once-proud nation heaps of metal that shame the concept of chic and style?

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Who are these hustled beatniks who think they look grand at the school gates with their upholstered tanks of chrome, leather and plastic? They are nothing more than purveyors of an outrageous con, and paraders of a copycat fake with no more value than a counterfeit Hermès Birkin handbag.

This week, China’s BYD revealed its Ti7 – a spurious knock-off of Land Rover’s new Defender. The defenders of the fake Defender would say the price of the real thing is a stretch too far. I say, that’s the point. You’re not supposed to be able to afford the real thing, which is why those who can are so smug about it.

The point of making eye-watering amounts of money is to afford glamorous accoutrements that cost eye-watering amounts of money. If you can’t afford it, don’t buy it – and certainly don’t buy a cheap, fake, knock-down, rip-off version.

Buy something that aptly represents your level of moolah. I own a VW Tiguan – a sensible, flat-heel of a car, which nervously hobbles towards its annual MOT. It says nothing in particular about me, while not being dishonest. My statement motor is a Honda Pioneer 700, an all-terrain vehicle with left-hand drive that is very noisy and perfect to strut outside the school gates with – except my wife won’t allow the kids anywhere near it.

Trust me, your modest vehicle – which is not a trademark-infringing, sleight-of-hand scam – will be vastly out of reach for the minions below you.

Remember that when you genuflect to the Chinese beast, you also herald the tragedy that this nation has slipped into superfluous mediocrity. Indeed, the squandering of resources on sham tat should be left to other nations.

We should be proud to walk around in hand-me-downs, drive rickety cars, live in cold houses in moth-eaten jumpers, and focus on what’s important in life: community, friendship, honesty and some decent alcohol.

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Source: “AOL Money”