Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has raided the offices of BYD as it accuses the Chinese car giant of copying the design of its best-selling Defender.
Bailiffs have seized documents from BYD's Dutch offices as part of a legal battle between the British and Chinese manufacturers.
This week, a court will rule on which records JLR can use as it pursues an ongoing copycat case against BYD.
BYD is due to start selling the Ti7, a boxy 4x4 vehicle dubbed "China's answer to the Defender", in January.
The plug-in hybrid will cost £47,995, a price cut of more than £20,000 compared with the equivalent seven-seater Defender.
The vehicle is the latest challenge to established manufacturers such as JLR, which are losing sales to upstart Chinese rivals .
It came as the head of Chinese automotive giant Chery hinted that he could seek to buy Jaguar from JLR. Yin Tongyue, the company's chairman, told the Sunday Times: "For long-term success [Chery needs to become more of] a British brand … a British company," and wanted to "find a sports car company that we can help".
When asked whether he wanted to buy Jaguar, he said: "If we want to share, we should share with JLR, not in this meeting room."
Chery has an existing agreement with JLR to license the Freelander design. Its subsidiary Jaecoo makes the Jaecoo 7, which has been nicknamed the Temu Range Rover and was Britain's best-selling car last month.
Chinese manufacturers now account for almost a quarter of new car sales in Britain.
JLR representatives secured a court-ordered seizure of records from BYD's offices in the Dutch towns of Schiedam and Hoofddorp in the summer.
Last month the two companies faced off in a Hague courtroom in a dispute over how they could be used. BYD reportedly called the move a "fishing expedition".
This week, the Dutch court is expected to rule on procedural elements of the case, including whether it can go ahead. The seizure was reported by the Sunday Times. The case is believed to be taking place in the Netherlands owing to its strong intellectual property laws.
JLR reportedly wishes to secure evidence that BYD had sought to copy the Defender's design, rather than merely produce a similar-looking car.
A spokesman said: "JLR does not comment on ongoing legal proceedings." BYD said it would not comment on an ongoing legal matter.
JLR, owned by India's Tata Motors, is seeking to ultimately have the car kept off the European market, although its case will not be resolved before the car goes on sale in January.
The boxy design of the Defender, Land Rover's best-known vehicle, dates back to 1948, when Land Rover introduced a civilian vehicle inspired by the Jeeps used in the Second World War, although the Defender name was not introduced until the 1980s.
The car ended production in 2016 but was revived three years later.
BYD, which is now the world's biggest seller of electric vehicles, has seen UK sales rise by 80pc in the last year and it now accounts for more than one in 20 cars sold in Britain.
