Chinese Automaker’s Ad Looked Familiar And Now We Know Why

Some Chinese car manufacturers have a long history of taking heavy design “inspiration” from Western models, occasionally drifting into territory that looks very close to outright plagiarism or copyright infringement. In recent years, many Chinese brands have worked to move beyond that reputation, but it appears Great Wall Motor (GWM) may still have some ground left to cover.

The brand recently released a promotional poster for its new Wey V9X SUV, and it didn’t take long for people to notice something familiar. The image quickly drew comparisons to a campaign Land Rover shot last year for the Range Rover Sport. Realizing the internet had spotted the resemblance almost instantly, the boss of GWM soon found himself issuing an apology on Chinese social media.

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In the original photo, a well-dressed Asian man stands beside a black Range Rover Sport, stretching his hand toward the hood. Behind him, smoke swirls under bright red lighting. The image released by GWM follows the same setup so closely that the resemblance is hard to ignore.

Swap the Range Rover for the new Wey V9X and you essentially have the second image. The SUV is again shown from the side, with an Asian man dressed in black gazing toward the hood, arm outstretched. In the background, smoke and red lighting return. The similarity runs so deep that even the Wey’s headlights appear to illuminate the man in almost exactly the same way as in the original shot.

WEY V9X

GWM Knows It Messed Up

While borrowing a few visual cues from a rival’s campaign might be forgivable, the similarities here are difficult to defend. Taking to social media, GWM chairman Wei Jiangjun acknowledged that the image had been plagiarized and issued an apology.

“After verification, the poster was indeed plagiarized,” he said in Mandarin and translated to English by IT-Home. “There can be no justification. Here I apologize to Land Rover, to the designer of the original poster, and to my friends online who trusted me. Great Wall Motors and I are also willing to take full legal and financial responsibility for this.”

There is still no word on whether Land Rover plans to pursue legal action against GWM. Given that Wei has already stated the company is prepared to accept legal and financial responsibility, such a move would hardly be surprising.