Chery and JLR to produce a new Freelander
- The two carmakers Chery and JLR (Jaguar Land-Rover) have officialised their cooperation in the battery electric technology by confirming the creation of a joint venture named CJLR, which will initially produce a new model that will take up the name of Freelander, a vehicle discontinued in 2015 (the former Land Rover Freelander was produced between 1997 and 2015) but available only in a battery electric version. This future Freelander EV will be produced in China at Chery's Changshu plant and sold first in China and then outside China.
- Chery has been a partner of Jaguar Land-Rover since 2012, but the production of British cars in China only began in 2016, and the partnership has not achieved the expected results, to say the least. The volume of Jaguar and Land-Rover sold did not exceed 60,000 units per year during their eight years of production at Chery, in a local market of between 20 million and 25 million per year, representing a tiny market share of 0.25%.
- The new partnership between Chery and JLR revives contacts between the two carmakers. In 2016, Chery and JLR each produced 600,000 vehicles but today their hierarchy has reversed. Chery has become one of the three Chinese leaders with sales and production volumes of over 1.7 million vehicles in 2023, while it's JLR, which produced just 400,000 vehicles worldwide in 2023, that needs Chery to provide a battery electric platform for the future Freelander.