China's half-price Rolls-Royce: Yangwang Altior is a lavish alternative to a Phantom limo

We've had the Temu Range Rover; now there's an AliExpress Roller.Chinese brand Yangwang, a spin-off from electric car giant BYD, has unveiled a new battery-powered luxury vehicle called the Altior, and it bears a striking resemblance to the iconic British Rolls-Royce Phantom limousine but for around half the price.At 5.6m long, with a vast bonnet and grille, rear-hinged coach doors, a palatial interior and umbrellas stowed inside the door panels, there's no hiding which ostentatious motor it has firmly set its sights on.Altior means 'higher' in Latin, with the car 'expressing an ambition to elevate the experience of luxury through cultural depth, personal expression and technological progress', Yangwang says.Just 399 are going to be produced and reports in China suggest pre-orders are available from 2million yuan, which equates to around £230,000.That puts it closer to the £250,000 Rolls-Royce Ghost than the flagship £450,000 Phantom, though that's before taking into account heavily subsidised pricing in China's domestic market.Its global premiere in Abu Dhabi this weekend comes just days after car registration figures revealed that Jaecoo's 'Temu Range Rover' 7 SUV was the UK's best-selling new model for a second successive month.The runaway success of the Range Rover Velar lookalike is the clearest sign yet that Chinese brands are coming for the old guard of established luxury carmakers. And with the Altior, it appears not even Rolls-Royce is safe. This is the new Yangwang Altior limousine - a luxury Rolls-Royce Phantom rival from Chinese EV giant, BYDWhile the Rolls-Royce Phantom and Ghost feature a gutsy 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine, the Yangwang Altior is a far greener proposition.It uses a version of the quad-electric motor setup deployed in the Chinese firm's other models, the U8 SUV and U9 supercar. That's likely to produce more than 1,000bhp and will allow it to perform a tank turn, rotating each wheel independently to spin the vehicle on its own axis.Providing the energy for the e-motors is BYD's second-generation Blade Battery technology.As such, it's claimed to be capable of travelling more than 621 miles on a full charge. However, this is based on Chinese efficiency tests that are historically a shade more optimistic than Europe's cycle, which would hint closer to 520 miles.The battery is compatible with BYD's network of Flash Charging stations, of which there are 10,000 already in China and a promise to install 300 here in the UK.The ground-breaking devices can deliver up to 1,500kW of power and top up a battery pack from 10 to 70 per cent charge in as little as five minutes, before reaching full charge in less than ten.That's not all in terms of technological advances.The Yangwang boasts a suite of chassis tech that means it can float if there are flash floods or the driver 'accidentally enters water'. And it can continue tracking in a straight line when one of the tyres suffers a high-speed blowout on the motorway.The Altior also taps into BYD's God's Eye A assisted-driving system, which includes parking-space-to-parking-space navigation assistance. This enables the car to drive itself from one car park to another, even when they are hundreds of miles apart.The suspension is clever too. The brand's DiSus active body control system uses cameras to read the road ahead and adjusts damping in real time, meaning occupants won't feel potholes or changes in road surfaces while stretched out in the back. Altior means 'higher' in Latin, as BYD's spin-off Yangwang looks to enter a more opulent market with its latest model. And it certain strikes a resemblance to the Rolls-Royce Phantom Yangwang Altior design Squint slightly and there's no mistaking the Rolls-Royce-inspired silhouette.The elongated bonnet, despite there being no 12-cylinder combustion engine lurking beneath it, and the glitzy upright grille are trademarks of the 122-year-old British marque.The Altior's front end is described as a 'masterpiece of high jewellery'.'Meticulous selection, polishing and individual placement create a composition that responds to changing light, revealing new depth and brilliance as the viewpoint moves,' the Chinese manufacturer says.Its lights are a little special too, featuring 12 individual elements that rotate from the outside to the centre to create a 'ceremonial welcome' when the owner approaches. At 5.6 metres long, the Altior (pictured left) is 5.5cm longer than the Ghost and 16cm shorter than the Phantom (pictured right) Like all Roller limousines, the Chinese Yangwang has rear-hinged coach doors for added drama Twenty-one-inch wheels are standard, with the dish-style monoblock design bearing more than a passing resemblance to the disc rims available on a Phantom Join the discussionIs it time for European luxury car makers to fear China’s fast-rising electric rivals?What's your view?At 5.6m long, the Altior is 5.5cm longer than the Ghost and 16cm shorter than the Phantom.However, the Yangwang's other dimensions, including a width of 2m, a height of almost 1.6m and a wheelbase of 3.5m, are almost like-for-like with the bigger of the two Rolls-Royces.Twenty-one-inch wheels are standard, with the dish-style monoblock design bearing more than a passing resemblance to the disc rims available on a Phantom.The doors also open in the fashion for which Rolls-Royce is famed, providing generous access to the opulent interior.The finely crafted bespoke umbrellas hidden in each door panel, much like those in a Rolls-Royce, are said to be inspired by the circular wooden roof of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests at China's Temple of Heaven complex. The cockpit is the least Roller-like part of the car. While the British luxury firm attempts to conceal tech for a traditional look, the Yangwang has a dashboard-wide high-definition screen Exactly like Rolls-Royces, though, the Chinese limo has bespoke, hand-crafted umbrellas hidden in a compartment within the doorsInterior opulence Step inside and the cabin – dubbed a 'private lounge' – is awash with only the highest-quality materials.These include hammer-tested metal switches, pure-wool floor mats, real-wood veneers, 48 jewellery-inspired control buttons and semi-aniline leather upholstery.The designers have even mounted polished yellow jade gemstones inside the vertical air vents, while the silk-embroidered door panels feature cloud and thunder-pattern motifs.The cockpit itself looks a little less Rolls-Royce-esque, even if it does feature a chrome-rimmed steering wheel wrapped in beautifully finished leather.While the British car maker generally tries to subtly conceal much of its modern technology up front, the Yangwang has a dashboard-spanning digital glass display. This incorporates an instrument cluster with classic-style digital dials and an enormous infotainment screen featuring a laptop-style taskbar of icons.But it's the rear compartment that well-heeled customers will want to know about. The cabin is as palatial as you'd expect from a Rolls-Royce or Bentley limo. It boasts aviation-style zero-gravity seats, real-wood veneers and 48 jewellery-inspired control buttons There's a fridge in the rear and in the front, two champagne flute holders and a control panel that means you won't have to converse with your chauffeur at all There's plenty of artistry too. Silk-embroidered door panels feature cloud and thunder-pattern motifsThe four-seat layout is almost perfectly symmetrical and 'gives each occupant a clearly defined personal space' where the owner in the back can feel entirely separate from Jeeves behind the wheel by elevating a divider between them.Owners won't need to ask their chauffeur for anything, either.Rear occupants can access all key functions through the central console, including lowering the front passenger seat at the touch of a button to provide an uninterrupted view ahead.The rear chairs are 'aviation-style zero-gravity seats' that provide a 'deeply relaxed' position and feature a new massage system using four ball-shaped heads that roll around the backrests to replicate the actions of a well-trained masseuse.There's even a 'one-touch relaxation mode' that adjusts the seat position, lighting, sound and fragrance settings so you feel as though you're in a luxury spa.As for sound, the Altior has a 39-speaker audio system, complete with tweeters that rotate and rise from the cabin panels when the vehicle starts.There are also fridges in both the front and rear of the cabin, which can cool or warm food and drinks to the desired temperature. A section extends out of the central armrest in the back with two flute-sized holders for a glass of fizz.And when deep-pocketed owners aren't enjoying a massage or cracking open the champagne from the fridge, they can use the massive 21.4-inch overhead screen to stream their favourite shows or conduct conference calls with their minions.Customers are also likely to be offered a range of customisation options, though whether these can compete with the bespoke features offered by Rolls-Royce - which typically sees most Phantoms leave the Goodwood factory with a seven-figure price tag. The Yangwang should also prove ideal for long weekends away at owners' country estates, thanks to a generous 532 litres of boot space. There's over 500 litres of boot space, which should be more than adequate for business or pleasure excursions for the super-rich The Yangwang poses a major threat to Rolls-Royce, given China is the British luxury carmaker's second largest marketCan you buy one in the UK?BYD has yet to confirm whether Yangwang is a brand it intends to bring to Europe or the UK.So, for the time being at least, this won't be a cut-price Phantom alternative for British buyers.However, the Altior could pose a very serious threat to the Goodwood-based luxury car maker.While the US remains Rolls-Royce's largest market, accounting for around 30 per cent of deliveries among the 5,664 vehicles it produced last year, China is its second biggest.Around a quarter of all Rolls-Royces built in 2025 were delivered to customers in the region.With Yangwang clearly looking to steal a march on those sales, it could put a significant dent in the BMW-owned marque's profits in the years ahead. CARS & MOTORING: ON TEST