New BYD Ti7 will be China's latest potshot at the Land Rover Defender
A new BYD teaser image shows a boxy SUV with clear off-road intentions
Chinese automotive giant BYD seems to have its fingers in plenty of pies, from the Dacia Spring-rivalling Dolphin Surf right up to the Porsche Taycan-troubling Z9 GT from its new Denza brand. Now the company is looking to take on the rugged off-roader market and has just teased a new model, likely to be called the Ti7.
The name stands for ‘Titanium 7’ and the SUV is already on sale in China under BYD’s premium sub-brand Fangchengbao; it’s an even larger sibling model to the Fangchengbao 5 we tested a few years ago. At five metres long, two metres wide and 1,865mm tall, the Ti7 is very similar in size (and let’s be honest, appearance) to the Land Rover Defender 110.
On paper, though, it looks as if the Ti7 won’t be able to match the off-road prowess of the Defender: the Chinese car has approach and departure angles of 24 and 25 degrees respectively, while the Defender 110 musters up 38 and 40 degrees, along with a wading depth of up to 900mm, 300mm more than the Ti7.
In China the plug-in hybrid Ti7 comes in four-wheel-drive and rear-wheel-drive configurations with power from a 1.5-litre turbocharged engine and either one or – in the case of the all-wheel-drive model – two electric motors with up to 124 miles of electric range (under the more lenient CLTC testing scheme). An all-electric version of the Ti7 has also just been launched in China with BYD’s latest 1000kW-plus ‘Flash Charging’ technology and a range of 469 miles (CLTC), but we expect the Ti7 to come only in PHEV guise here in the UK.
Although Fangchengbao is pitched as a more upmarket brand than BYD, we expect a similar amount of luxury and equipment in the BYD-branded model that will be sold here. That means there should be a 15.6-inch central touchscreen, a 12.3-inch driver’s display, a head-up display, a fridge and dual panoramic sunroofs. We doubt the optional roof-mounted drone station will be available for UK buyers, though.
As for pricing, we’ll know more when the Ti7 gets closer to its UK launch later this year, but expect it to start significantly higher here than it does in China, where you can pick up a Fangchengbao Ti7 from 179,800 yuan (less than £20,000).
If you want to enjoy the rugged off-road nature of the Defender 110, then a used example might be perfect for you - check out the Auto Express Buy A Car service where Defender 110s start from just over £30,000.
