New Yangwang Altior is BYD's challenge to Rolls-Royce

Yet another Chinese car design showing some rather limited originality has been teased. The short video from BYD gives a preview of the incoming Yangwang Altior’s side profile, and there’s something very Rolls-Royce about its monolithic proportions. 

There are the rear-hinged doors that Rolls is famed for using, and even the wheels wouldn’t look out of place on a Rolls-Royce Ghost or Phantom. One of the few departures is the characteristic, taxi-sign-like LiDAR ‘hump’ at the top of the windscreen. We’ll be able to get a better sense of how closely the Altior mimics the work of the Goodwood-based manufacturer once it’s fully revealed in Dubai on 5 November. 

Technical details remain scarce for now, so we’re left guessing what might power the car. It certainly won’t be a big V12 as you get in a Rolls, though. An all-electric powertrain is a possibility, as is a plug-in hybrid system based around a four-cylinder engine and a large battery pack. 

The Altior may end up sharing the PHEV set-up of the Yangwang U8 SUV, which combines an enormous 49kWh battery pack with a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine for a total of 1,180bhp and 1,280Nm of torque and an electric-only range of more than 100 miles. 

The Yangwang flagship, called ‘Dingyao’ in its home market, will reportedly be 5.5 metres in length, putting it in similar territory to the aforementioned Ghost. And it sounds like it will be a flagship – ‘altior’ is the Latin word for ‘higher’, suggesting that it’s placed above the U8 SUV and U9 supercar in the line-up. 

Although it will undercut European luxury cars such as the Ghost and the Bentley Flying Spur, the Altior will likely still be pricey, and one of the most expensive Chinese cars Europe has seen to date. Both the U8 and U9 have chunky, six-figure price tags. 

This isn’t the first time a major Chinese brand has brought out something with more than a hint of a Rolls-Royce model to it. The Zeekr X9 has a blatant Cullinan look to it, for example. Land Rover is probably still the most used source for ‘inspiration’, though – only a few weeks ago, we were looking at the Defender-like iCaur V27, which is set to go on sale in the UK next year.

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