Polestone 01: another pale copy of the Defender

After GreatWall, Chery and BYD, it is the turn of the Chinese automotive group BAIC to offer its own copy of the famous Land Rover Defender. From the silhouette to the door handles, from the dashboard to the shape of the roof, this new Polestone 01 fools no one.

You know the saying, “always copied, never equalled”. A maxim that fits well with the Land Rover Defender, very often eyed and copied, and this from the 1950s. Austin Gipsy, Fiat Campagnola, IVECO Massifand more recently Ineos Grenadier. Even if the very first “Land” was discontinued in 2016, its successor Defender, which arrived in 2020, has since also been entitled to very inspired competitors. It’s simple, each major Chinese automotive group wants its own version of the large English SUV. At GreatWall the Haval Xianglong at Chery on Jetour Travellerat BYD on Yangwang U8etc.

Polestone 01, another Chinese Defender

In general, many manufacturers – Chinese or not – want to set foot in the luxury SUV segment. In the footsteps of the Defender, but also of the Mercedes Classe G and (to a lesser extent) the Jeep Wrangler. There is only to see Hyundai’s all-new Santa Fe to see that the Defender spectrum is everywhere! The umpteenth copy of the day is called Polestone 01. Behind this brand, which is unequivocally reminiscent of Polestar, hides the state builder BAICwhich joined forces with Pininfarina to design (or reproduce?) its new model.

Hybrid for 1,000 kilometers of range

Certainly the stern and bow are different from the British, but everything about its silhouette, its body panels and even the shape of its handles seems to have been modeled after the Land Rover. Same observation on board in the design of the dashboard, the integration of the central screen and the shape of the gear lever, typically Land Rover or Jaguar. However, it innovates on a technical level, with an unprecedented mechanical architecture. The 4 cylinder petrol 1.5L powers a 56 kWh electric battery, and above all two electric motors. In the spirit of Nissan e-Power technology. The 01 develops a combined power of 467 horsepower, for an autonomy announced at 1,000 kilometers in the Chinese cycle. From there to seeing him land with us, that’s another story.

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