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GWM Chairman Apologizes for Wey V9X Ad Plagiarism
10 Mar
Summary
- GWM chairman admitted the Wey V9X SUV advertisement was plagiarized.
- The ad closely resembled a Range Rover promotional image from last year.
- GWM will assume full legal and financial responsibility for the issue.
Great Wall Motors (GWM) chairman Wei Jiangjun has publicly apologized for a recent advertisement promoting the Wey V9X Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle. The campaign was found to have plagiarized a promotional image previously used by Land Rover for its Range Rover Sport.
Wei Jiangjun admitted that the poster was indeed plagiarized, stating there could be no justification for the action. He assured that GWM would take full legal and financial responsibility for this oversight.
This incident brings to light persistent issues with intellectual property in the Chinese automotive sector. Land Rover has a history with similar disputes, notably the 2016 case where the Landwind X7 was found to have copied the Range Rover Evoque's design, leading to its production ceasing after a court ruling.
While overt copycat designs have become less common, many Chinese brands continue to draw heavily from established Western automakers for inspiration. Some insiders suggest this stems from the industry's relatively short history, though designers are increasingly vocal about a problematic trend of blindly following existing designs, contributing to homogeneity among new energy vehicles.
