Blimey, BYD is going after the Land Rover Defender with this boxy seven-seater

BYD’s UK arm has confirmed that it’ll bring a new flagship SUV over to the UK. That SUV will be the extremely boxy Ti7 that you see above. Watch out, Land Rover.

The Ti7 was first unveiled as a Fangchengbao in China last year, but it’ll arrive here with a BYD badge and a plug-in hybrid powertrain that pairs two electric motors with a 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine. We’re told that 0-62mph will take just 4.8 seconds, and it’ll manage an all-electric range of 79 miles.

Those are both rather impressive given how large the Ti7 is. At over 5.1m long and almost 2m wide, it’s longer and only slightly narrower than a Defender 110. Not quite as long as a Defender 130, of course, but that’s essentially the size of a small island.

The Ti7 will have space for seven seats inside though, and we’re told that it’ll be aimed at “larger families and those with an active lifestyle”. No real word on its off-road chops just yet though. Well, other than the fact it’ll have all-wheel drive from those twin motors.

BYD has promised further details including prices and full specs in the coming weeks.