The Freelander has a distinct British heritage. It is a car that was first manufactured in 1997 as a compact luxury SUV.
It was a massive success across Europe upon its launch and for a time, it was the best-selling 4x4 across the continent. It was produced across two generations before Land Rover decided to replace it with the Discovery Sport in 2015.
After the nameplate was discontinued in 2015, we didn’t know if we would see the Freelander ever again. Now the Freelander has been revived but as a Chinese-built SUV that still maintains its British heritage. To put it bluntly, it is now a car that carries British soul with Chinese intelligence.
This was echoed by Antonio Maresca, the chief engineer at the Chery Research and Development Centre, at the global launch of the Freelander 8 in Wuhu, China this week.
Maresca was part of the original team that designed and developed the first Freelander.
Apart from being a step forward for Freelander, this is a dynamic shift in motoring as a whole globally.
Historically, Western brands formed joint ventures with Chinese brands solely to access the local market in China, which allowed them to bring their superior tech with them. However, now JLR needs Chery just as much as Chery wants JLR. Jaguar Land Rover requires Chery's advanced Rapid Development EV technology to stay competitive.
Meanwhile, Chery’s explosive sales growth in right-hand drive markets like South Africa, the United Kingdom and Australia proves they have the manufacturing scale and quality to dominate globally.
The partnership is a strategic exchange: JLR gets cutting-edge EV tech to save billions in R&D and Chery gains the ultimate stamp of British prestige.
This is shown by Chery’s market performance globally. Chery has firmly entrenched itself as a powerhouse in South Africa just five years after entering the country.
According to Naamsa data, in September 2026, Chery Auto South Africa sold 3 004 units, securing seventh position overall in the market. This represents a 32.7% year-on-year increase.
In the UK, Chery has successfully entered the market and become highly aggressive with their marketing. Across its brands, Chery captured a 7% share of the UK market over the first nine months, with the Jaecoo J7 now becoming the UK's best-selling car for two months in a row.
In September 2026, Chery's market share spiked in the UK to 9.4%, now making the brand the top-selling Chinese brand in the country.
In Australia, Chery recorded record sales of 4 238 new vehicle sales in August 2026, representing a massive 28.2% year-on-year growth. For the first half of 2026, Chery also sat inside the top 10 best-selling brands in Australia.
Globally, Chery sold over 2.2 million vehicles in the first three quarters of 2026 and is now China’s largest vehicle exporter. Between Q1 and Q3 in 2026 alone, they exported over 1.5 million vehicles.
For Maresca, bringing the nameplate back to life is deeply personal. “I spent decades working with Jaguar Land Rover, AMG and BMW, including the original Freelander. So this is a full-circle moment for me,” Maresca said.
“Having developed luxury SUVs in the past, I learned that real quality is not defined by prices or badges. It is defined by how a car performs after it has been pushed to its absolute limit and beyond.”
That performance is backed by serious mechanical muscle. The international left-hand drive variant features a 2.0-litre twin-turbo engine designed for hybrid driving, achieving an impressive 46% thermal efficiency. Paired with a dual-motor all-wheeldrive system delivering over 460kW of power, the SUV accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just 5.8 seconds.
Electrification sits at the core of the new model. Equipped with a lithiumiron phosphate battery chosen for thermal stability and durability, the vehicle offers 110 kilometres of pure electric range for daily commutes and a combined range exceeding 886 kilometres.
To match Jaguar Land Rover’s renowned ride comfort, the chassis incorporates dual-chamber air suspension with continuously controlled damping, complete with a kneeling feature for easier entry and exit, alongside adjustable ground clearance for off-road trails and desert conditions.
Maresca emphasised that the Chery-developed Freelander underwent testing regimes that matched and, in several areas, exceeded traditional European luxury benchmarks. “We put more than a thousand vehicles on the road in the deep cold of Northern Europe, the heat and humidity of Southeast Asia, and extreme heat, dust and sand in the Middle East,” Maresca noted.
“In structural integrity, thermal resilience and crash energy absorption, we have validated everything to deliver a car you can depend on.”
With British design heritage, cutting-edge Chinese EV technology and rigorous global validation, the revived Freelander represents more than just a returning badge. It signals a new era of global automotive collaboration.
While the vehicle has been confirmed for numerous Asian and European markets, Chery South Africa confirmed that it is still under consideration for South Africa.