Landwind was an automobile

marque A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

owned by the Chinese automaker Jiangling Motor Holding (JMH), a joint venture between Jiangxi Guokong Automotive Investment Corporation (50%),

Jiangling Motors Corporation Group Jiangling Motors Corporation Group Co., Ltd. (JMCG) is a Chinese state-owned enterprise, state-owned holding mostly operating in the automotive industry. It was established in 1947 and is headquartered in Nanchang, Jiangxi. JMCG has various pro ...

(25%) and

Changan Automobile Changan Automobile Co., Ltd. (CCAG) is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Jiangbei, Chongqing.

(25%).

History

Creation and early years

Landwind traces its origins back to 1998 when the then-chairman of

JMCG Jiangling Motors Corporation Group Co., Ltd. (JMCG) is a Chinese state-owned holding mostly operating in the automotive industry. It was established in 1947 and is headquartered in Nanchang, Jiangxi. JMCG has various production facilities and, ...

, Sun Min, established Jiangling Lufeng (Landwind) Automobile Co., Ltd. His intention was to create an independent marque to strengthen JMCG's own technical development and reduce its dependence on Ford and

Isuzu , commonly known as Isuzu (, ), is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. Its principal activity is the production, marketing and sale of Isuzu commercial vehicles and diesel engines ...

. While the cars would be designed by Lufeng, the production would be made on Isuzu's production lines. Ford opposed the project and it eventually was abandoned. Landwinds were on sale by 2002 and the marque was relaunched in November 2004 by Jiangling Motor Holding. The Landwind X5 debuted at the Guangzhou Auto Show in November 2012.

Conflict with JLR

In 2005, when Jiangling Motor Holding registered the marque's English-language name as ,

Jaguar Land Rover Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC is the holding company of Jaguar Land Rover, also known as JLR, and is a British multinational automobile manufacturer which produces luxury vehicles and SUVs and has its head office in Whitley, Coventry, Unite ...

(JLR) lodged a complaint before the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, alleging the name was too similar to . In 2011, the complaint was dismissed. In 2016, JLR sued Jiangling Motor Holding at the Beijing Chaoyang District Court for

unfair competition Anti-competitive practices are business or government practices that prevent or reduce competition in a market. Antitrust laws ensure businesses do not engage in competitive practices that harm other, usually smaller, businesses or consumers. ...

and

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of Copyright#Scope, works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the c ...

, as it alleged the Landwind X7 design was a copy of the

Range Rover Evoque The Land Rover Range Rover Evoque, also known as the Range Rover Evoque or the Land Rover Evoque, is a subcompact luxury crossover SUV developed and produced by Jaguar Land Rover under their Land Rover marque. The original Evoque was a develo ...

. In 2019, the Court dismissed the copyright infringement case, as both the Jiangling Holding and JLR intellectual property claims in China for the vehicle had been made improperly and were invalid within the country. As for the unfair competition case, the Court ruled in favour of JLR, and the X7s were temporarily banned from being sold and produced in China, although Jiangling Holding could appeal the verdict. Media outlets erroneously reported that JLR had won the copyright infringement case, following a JLR press release, and that the company being sued was

Jiangling Motors Jiangling Motors Corporation Limited, abbreviated JMC, is a Chinese automobile manufacturer. According to company and press reports, the largest shareholder of JMC is Jiangling Investment, a company controlled equally by the state-owned enterpri ...

. Jiangling Motors published a press release denying it was involved in the proceedings. Later, as JLR partially fixed its press release indicating the company it had sued was Jiangling Motor Holding instead of Jiangling Motors, news agency

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

corrected its newswire on that point, although it did not apologise for not fact-checking JLR's information.

End of operations

In 2019, Landwind only sold about 1,000 vehicles after a high of 80,000 in 2016. By 2020, production of Landwind-badged vehicles had ceased and the company has stopped its operations. From 2021, the Landwind factory has been transferred to the

Changan Automobile Changan Automobile Co., Ltd. (CCAG) is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Jiangbei, Chongqing.

, where the previous co-owner of the defunct joint-venture had now started manufacturing of its own model, Raeton CC.

Products

Landwind's range of products had the following models: *

Landwind X2 The Landwind X2 is a subcompact crossover SUV produced by Chinese car manufacturer Landwind, an automotive brand owned by the Chinese automaker Jiangling Motor Holding, a joint venture between Aiways, Changan Auto and Jiangling Motors Corporati ...

(2017–2021) – CUV * Landwind X5 (2013–2021) – CUV * Landwind X8 (2009–2021) – SUV * Landwind Xiaoyao (2018–2021) – Compact CUV * Landwind Rongyao (2019–2021) – Compact CUV * Landwind X6 (2005–2016) –

SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definition ...

* Landwind X7 (2015–2019) – CUV * Landwind X9 (2001–2009) –

* Landwind CV9 (2005–2011) –

Compact MPV Compact MPV (an abbreviation for Compact Multi-Purpose Vehicle) is a vehicle size class for the middle size of MPVs. The Compact MPV size class sits between the mini MPV and large MPV (minivan) size classes. Compact MPVs remain predominantly a ...

* Landwind Forward (2006–2011) – Sedan Landwind products in development included a large SUV codenamed E32 planned to be positioned above the Landwind X5 and originally intended for launch in China in 2014. File:Landwind CV9 001.jpg, Landwind CV9 File:Landwind Forward 01 China 2018-03-20.jpg, Landwind Forward File:Landwind X2 02 (cropped).jpg, Landwind X2 File:Landwind_X5_01_China_2015-04-06.jpg, Landwind X5 File:Landwind X6 facelift China 2012-05-01.jpg, Landwind X6 File:Landwind X7 2 China 2016-04-07.jpg, Landwind X7 File:Landwind X8 -- Auto Chongqing -- 2012-06-07.jpg, Landwind X8 File:Landwind X9 facelift 01 -- Auto Chongqing -- 2012-06-07.jpg, Landwind X9 File:2018 Landwind Xiaoyao (front).jpg, Landwind Xiaoyao File:Landwind Rongyao 005.jpg, Landwind Rongyao

Sales

References

External links

Official website

Official website for Europe
{{Automotive industry in China Car manufacturers of China Chinese brands Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2004 Jiangling Motors Corporation Group Changan Automobile