Freelander teased – new EV/REEV brand with Land Rover name and design, Chery tech; March 31 reveal

In 2024, it was revealed that Chery struck a deal with its joint venture partner in China, Jaguar Land Rover, to licence the Freelander name for its own use. That was essentially JLR capitulating to its inability to respond to the advancement of Chinese brands, with Chery ironically being the tip of that spear.

From here on out, Chery Jaguar Land Rover will phase out locally-built JLR models in favour of the new Freelander series of EVs, previewed by a concept car set to debut in Shanghai on March 31, ahead of the Auto China show in Beijing the following month.

A few soft-focus teasers show that the as-yet-unnamed show car will continue to feature traditional Land Rover design cues, such as a boxy and upright body, interlocking square headlights and black round wheel arch flares. These are interspersed with some classic outlandish concept car touches, including suicide doors and large wheels with criss-cross spokes.

While the production version isn’t due out for some time yet, Autohome has already released some spyshots of a prototype that has undergone China New Car Assessment Programme (C-NCAP) crash tests. The mules sport some more production-ready headlights and a beefy Defender-esque front bumper, along with flush-fitting rectangular door pull cutouts and the ditching of the aforementioned suicide doors (sorry).

At the rear, the Freelander gets small square taillights and the “Freelander” script stamped across the tailgate; ditto the front bumper. Inside, the car gets an oblong steering wheel, a massive floating touchscreen with physical controls below it, the usual Chinese car dual phone holders and a distinctive full-width instrument display below the windscreen – similar to BMW’s Neue Klasse models like the new iX3 and i3, but without the expensive projection technology. One can also spot the lidar sensor atop the windscreen.

What’s clear is that Freelander models won’t be quite as off-road-capable as proper Land Rover models, given that they will ride on Chery’s ubiquitous T1X SUV platform, which underpins everything from the Tiggo Cross to the Jaecoo J8. However, the presence of six-lug wheels on the crashed cars indicates that some strengthening will have been performed to unlock a bit more ability.

While Freelander was created on the outset to be an EV brand, the prototypes bear the “REEV” label, confirming that the cars will be offered with a petrol range extender, at least as an option. It’s also been reported that the first model will be a large SUV with up to six seats.

Freelander will join a whole host of Chery SUV brands – in addition to the main marque, there’s also Jetour, Exeed and iCar. That’s even before you consider the export-only Omoda, Jaecoo, Lepas and iCaur divisions that it will have to compete with if plans for global sales come to fruition.

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