2024 BYD Leopard 5 in-depth Walkaround - A New Copy of the Defender?

Honestly, these days, the Chinese Auto Industry and the term 'Copy' have become synonymous, and that's primarily due to one glaring reason: their persistent inclination to produce poor imitations of some of the finest vehicles. Here we go again because today we're discussing Fang Cheng Bao's Leopard 5, a car that certainly doesn't shy away from being a Land Rover Defender knockoff.
Now, if you're unfamiliar with Fang Cheng Bao or hearing about it for the first time, don't worry; it's simply another subsidiary of the Chinese Tech Giant, BYD. BYD has been prolific in giving birth to numerous automobile companies. For instance, it has already spawned five such companies - Dynasty series, Ocean series, Denza, BYD Auto, and Yang Wang. Fang Cheng Bao is the latest addition to this list, making it a total of six automobile companies, which is quite remarkable. And for your information, even these BYD brands, excluding Fang Cheng Bao, are notorious for imitating other international cars as well. So, it's not a recent occurrence.
Now, let's delve into the heart of the matter, Fang Cheng Bao's Leopard 5. To start with, Fang Cheng Bao, under BYD, is directing its efforts toward the production of off-road and sports cars. An intriguing tidbit about the Fang Cheng Bao brand is that its name itself signifies 'Formula' and 'Leopard' in Chinese.
As for the Leopard 5, since Fang Cheng Bao's focus is on off-road and sports vehicles, they've chosen to launch the Leopard 5 as their inaugural offering. The Leopard 5 is a 5-meter off-road SUV, which is based on Yang Wang's U8 (another off-road SUV). It utilizes the DMO platform sourced from BYD, the same platform that underpins Yang Wang's U8. This DMO platform is quite remarkable, boasting a range of unique features.
The powertrain aspect of the vehicle is quite interesting. The Leopard 5 is a plug-in hybrid car, which is indeed intriguing. As a plug-in hybrid, it incorporates two power sources - a 1.5 L petrol engine and a battery pack (the battery capacity and the output of the 1.5 L engine have not been disclosed yet). Together, they produce an impressive output of 670 hp and 760 Nm of torque. These figures are noteworthy when compared to the Defender V8, especially considering the cost in a developing country.

[@AntihuaGoxiba]

Much better than defender