The Leopard 5 by Feng Chen Bao is China’s response to the Land Rover Defender. Owned by BYD, the Feng Chen Bao brand incorporates a traditional 194bhp 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine, a 36.1 kWh battery pack, and two electric motors, yielding a formidable 685bhp. In comparison, the fastest Land Rover model available, the Range Rover SVR, boasts a 575bhp V8 and retails for over £115,000 in the UK.
Do you notice the disparity here? China offers more powerful and equally capable vehicles at less than half the price. The Leopard 5 on test retails for $43K in China, roughly £33K in the UK. What the Defender has going for it is woeful reliability, heritage, off-road heritage and the exterior and interior design language. And that’s it.
Admittedly, the Leopard 5’s exterior design language leans towards the generic, though not objectionable. As for its off-road performance, the reviewer abstained from testing, but it boasts an impressive 37mpg on a combined cycle—efficiency levels that a Land Rover can only aspire to match.
