​BYD’s luxury brand, Yangwang, has just teased its take on the ultra-luxury saloon in a bid to take on Rolls-Royce. The suitably named Yangwang Altior was partially revealed in a series of posts on social media channels, featuring a close-up of one of the Altior’s headlight clusters as well as a side-on view of the car in a darkened room.

There aren’t many visible details on the images Yangwang has shared but we can make out what’s most likely to be a LiDAR hump above the windscreen. It’s undeniable that the silhouette of the Altior does mimic that of a Rolls-Royce Phantom VIII or Ghost, with an elongated passenger compartment and short bootlid.

The Chinese market has a longstanding trend of favouring cars with long-wheelbases and spacious back seats as status symbols. Even small saloons like the BMW 3 series have been given long wheelbase versions for the Chinese market. It only makes sense then, that BYD and Yangwang take on the eminent limousine manufacturer at their own game.

Will the Yangwang Altior be electric? 

We’re hopeful that the luxury Yangwang saloon will be fully electric, but there's no confirmation yet. Not only would it make the most sense for a serene and cosseting luxury saloon to be as quiet as possible, but if they get there fast enough, the Altior would beat Rolls-Royce’s first effort at an electric four-door saloon. Having said that, BYD and Yangwang do have super-hybrid system (which is a long-range PHEV) that are very popular in prestige cars in the Chinese market, so it's possible that the Altior could be a long-range plug-in hybrid.

When will the Yangwang Altior go on sale, and will it be in the UK? 

We don't yet know when the Altior will make it to market but the Altior will be revealed in full on 5 November out in Dubai.