(Yicai) Aug. 1 -- Dongfeng Liuzhou Motor said the Chinese heavy truck maker reserves the right to take legal action after one of its vehicles was used without permission in a collision test video to promote a new car launched this week by electric vehicle startup Li Auto.

The unauthorized and misleading use of a Chenglong-branded truck in a collision test video without authorization constitutes a serious infringement, the subsidiary of Dongfeng Motor Group said early yesterday, without naming the carmaker involved.

At the launch event for its pure electric i8 SUV on July 29, Li Auto screened a video of a head-on collision between the car and an eight-ton Chenglong truck at 100 kilometers per hour. In the footage, the truck’s cab separates from its body, while the car appears largely unscathed, spawning the viral topic “heavy-duty truck can’t stand up to the Li i8” on Chinese social media.

The car brand has gone beyond the normal scope of commercial competition, inflicting a significant negative impact on Dongfeng Liuzhou’s brand and business reputation, the truck maker said, adding that the publicity stunt may have broken the law.

Li Auto told Sina Tech yesterday that it had commissioned a third-party certification agency to make the video. The agency chose the location, equipment, and the truck used, the carmaker said, adding that the test was real.

The six-seater i8 is the first premium pure electric large SUV under Li Auto's new i-series targeting family users. It is priced at between CNY321,800 and CNY369,800 (USD44,640 and USD51,295).

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev