Porsche took a heavy hit in China last year, with sales tumbling 26 percent from 56,887 units to 41,938, a drop steep enough to force significant dealership cuts. While it continues to sell some very compelling cars, the rise of local brands offering similarly styled models at much lower prices has chipped away at Porsche’s luster. With EVs like this entering the scene, it’s not hard to see why.

What you’re looking at is an all-electric estate that clearly draws inspiration from the Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo. And no, this isn’t another take on the Xiaomi SU7, the SAIC Z7 unveiled a couple of weeks ago, or the upcoming MG 07 from the same company, even if all of them wear their Taycan influences quite openly.

Read: Porsche Is Shutting Down A Third Of Its Dealerships In China

Instead, this EV is called the GT7 and comes from Aistaland, a newly formed brand backed by Huawei and GAC. It will join the HIMA alliance, which already includes Aito, Luxeed, Maextro, Shangjie, and Stelato. For whatever reason, Chinese brands seem to have developed a habit of using the number ‘7’ for their Taycan-style lookalikes.

European Design With Chinese Tech

The GT7 will be unveiled in full next month, but at this stage, we know it’s 198.9 inches (5,050 mm) long, 77.9 inches (1,980 mm) wide, 57.9 inches (1,470 mm) tall, and rides on a 118.1-inch (3,000 mm) wheelbase. It uses an advanced 800-volt electrical architecture and will be available with up to three electric motors, one at the front axle and two at the rear.

There’s no word on how much power the GT7 will have, nor what kind of driving range it’ll hit the market with. But given that the Xiaomi SU7 delivers 664 hp in flagship dual-motor guise and 1,527 hp in the tri-motor SU7 Ultra, the GT7 will likely have output somewhere between those two models.

A Cut-Price Taycan

Obviously, the GT7 doesn’t just echo the Porsche Taycan in the way it’s engineered; it leans heavily on it for visual inspiration too. Up front, things are kept relatively clean, with large teardrop-shaped headlights and a small black grille doing most of the work. From the side, it’s even more familiar, with matching door handle placement and a shoulder line that could easily pass for Stuttgart’s handiwork.

The resemblance continues at the rear, where a full-width LED light bar closely echoes the Taycan’s look. Aistaland also seems to have taken a cue from the latest Tesla Model Y, adding two cut-outs above the light bar that glow red and give off a faint jet-thruster vibe.

There’s still no sign of the interior, and pricing remains unknown. However, if it lands close to the Xiaomi SU7, which starts at 229,900 yuan ($33,400), and the Z7, expected to begin around the same point, it would sit dramatically below the Porsche. In China, the Taycan starts at 918,000 yuan ($126,000) for the sedan and 1,008,000 yuan ($138,000) for the Sport Turismo, making Porsche’s position in China even harder to defend.

Most people outside China have probably never heard of the Maextro S800. Yet this large Chinese luxobarge has quietly begun outselling some very familiar names. In recent months, it has moved more units than the Porsche Panamera, BMW 7-Series, and Mercedes-Maybach S-Class combined in China.

Foreign automakers are all struggling to compete with homegrown competition in the Chinese market, not least of all, Porsche. The German sports car brand is at a problematic stage, experiencing one of the biggest drops in sales, both in China, and globally.

Read: Porsche Is Shutting Down A Third Of Its Dealerships In China

The number of deliveries in China fell by approximately 26 percent last year, Bloomberg reports. And, for all its territories in 2025, Porsche had supplied approximately 279,449 cars to customers all around the world. That’s 10 percent below the year prior.

Chinese Demand Wanes

Maextro S800

For years, China had been Porsche’s single most important growth engine. Wealthy buyers were drawn in by the brand’s reputation for performance and status. That dynamic has shifted with the emergence of a new generation of consumers, who are more aware of the advantages of electric vehicles and the idea of electric propulsion.

Combine that with Chinese automaker’s unique grasp of how to cater to the wants and needs of the home market consumer, as well as the ability to consistently beat Western offerings on price and performance, and it’s little wonder why cars like the S800 are doing so well in a segment that was once rich with Germany’s finest.

Still, the rate at which Chinese automakers have been able to capitalize within the luxury automobile market is nothing short of alarming. Their model lines are competing head-on with long-established luxury brands throughout Europe and, in most instances, provide highly advanced digital and battery technology that buyers are seeking.

However, for consumers, local EV makers are viewed as a representation of innovation, rather than being compromised, especially when it comes to younger buyers.

Strong Local Offerings

Maextro S800

Brands like Huawei’s Maextro, Xiaomi, and BYD have gained market share in the luxury EV range. The S800, for instance, starts at the equivalent price of $103,000, which is around 40 percent cheaper than the Panamera.

Xiaomi’s SU7 EV, meanwhile, is not only quicker than the all-electric Taycan to 100 km/h (2.1 seconds vs 2.7 seconds), it has a higher top speed (350 km/h vs 270 km/h) and offers nearly double the horsepower and torque (1,548 PS / 1,770 Nm vs 884 PS / 890 Nm). And it does all that, while costing a third of the price of the Porsche.

Having expansive product offerings and high levels of domestic loyalty, such firms have started attracting clients who, not too long ago, would have only considered a car with a foreign badge as worthy.

But, in the case of Porsche, this change is a challenging fact. Prestige alone is no longer sufficient to ensure success. So much so that Bloomberg reports that Porsche is not only downsizing its dealer structure, but is also in the process of winding down its EV charging network.

Righting The Ship

Under the leadership of its new CEO, Michael Leiters, Porsche has started to re-evaluate its strategy. The company is leaning on its traditional strengths, focusing on relatively high-margin sports cars and SUVs and pushing a bit heavier on the full complexity electrification. The idea is not to compete on price with the domestic manufacturers of EVs but to shore up what makes the brand unique.

Leiters has told investors the company is looking to see margins improve, though modestly this year. These difficult times have tightened Porsche’s operations’ profit margins, and the company hopes for better cost control and a well-defined product strategy to stabilize performance. The approach is cautious optimism as opposed to quick promises of a turnaround.

China Still Remains Part Of The Plan

Even though Porsche are scaling back their presence in China, they’re not ready to throw in the towel just yet. “The needs of Chinese customers have fundamentally changed,” Porsche China President Alexander Pollich said. “We are a niche brand, a small-scale manufacturer that can hardly change the economic environment, nor reverse the overall market trend. What we can do is to truly examine ourselves and strengthen the core capabilities.”

Porsche will be launching the all-electric Cayenne in the near future and will also introduce more gasoline-powered and plug-in hybrid SUVs, with China-only models high on the agenda. To support this effort, the company is establishing an all-new development hub in Shanghai that will operate independently from Germany.

First on the agenda is designing a new infotainment system that can better match the unique demands of Chinese buyers, likely with native integration for the local apps many owners use daily, rather than relying on the global software stack developed in Germany. In a market that is evolving as quickly as China’s, that kind of local focus may prove just as important as performance or prestige.

Thought the Xiaomi SU7 looked a little too much like a Porsche Taycan? Apparently that was just the warm-up act. Fellow Chinese carmaker SAIC has now pushed the idea of “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” a step further, revealing an electric sedan and Shooting Brake that, from most angles, could easily have Porsche fans doing a double take.

Developed under the Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA) and led by Huawei, the SAIC Z7 was teased earlier this year and has finally been shown in full. Several key details remain under wraps, but pricing is expected to land between 250,000 and 350,000 yuan ($36,200 – $50,700).

That is slightly higher than some early estimates suggested, though still a long way from Taycan money. Porsche’s electric sedan currently starts at 918,000 yuan (equal to around $133,000 at current rates).

Read: China’s $28K Taycan Clone Is Coming Whether Porsche Likes It Or Not

Viewed from the front, both the sedan and Shooting Brake models look somewhat distinctive, with sharp LED headlights and a black lower grille. But cast your eyes beyond the front fenders, and the similarities to the Taycan are impossible to ignore. The shape of the doors, the roofline, the wing mirrors, and the door handles look like they’ve been ripped straight from a Porsche parts catalog.

The resemblance becomes even more obvious when you walk around to the rear. Much like the Taycan, the Z7 features a full-width LED light bar with an intricate lighting signature. The tailgate design also looks remarkably similar to Porsche’s electric sedan.

And then there is the Shooting Brake. Its overall shape and side profile track very closely with the Taycan Sport Turismo, to the point where the silhouette alone could cause a moment of confusion.

Perhaps in a direct shot at the Xiaomi SU7, the Z7 has also been showcased in a bright shade of pink with black wheels and matching pink outer rims. As fate would have it, the Xiaomi SU7 15th Anniversary Edition presented in early 2025 had an identical finish.

Only a handful of interior images have been released so far. They reveal a thin digital instrument cluster, a large central infotainment display, and an additional screen for the passenger. In other words, the sort of setup that has become standard fare across many modern Chinese EVs.

There are also two wireless charging pads and a sporty flat-bottom steering wheel, rounding out a cabin that feels very much in line with current trends.

Technical specifications for the Z7 have not yet been confirmed. However, Chinese media reports suggest the EV could arrive with 80 kWh and 100 kWh battery packs, along with both rear-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive configurations. More concrete details are expected to be released in the next few weeks.