The new Freelander-branded models will initially be sold in China through a select network and will be exported to overseas markets in the future.
British luxury car brand Jaguar Land Rover will use its Chinese partner Chery's platform to build electric vehicles (EVs), marking yet another foreign brand looking to capitalize on Chinese automakers' technology.
Chery announced today that Jaguar Land Rover will build EVs based on its platform, using the latter's licensed Freelander brand, confirming a report from two months ago that was denied at the time.
Building on a 12-year relationship and a well-established operational joint venture, Chery and Jaguar Land Rover recently signed a letter of intent for strategic cooperation, the Chinese carmaker said in a statement today.
The two companies will promote a new model of cooperation aimed at further strengthening the product matrix of their joint venture, Chery Jaguar Land Rover, towards the coming era of electrification, Chery said.
Chery Jaguar Land Rover will launch and manufacture a range of EV products, using Chery's EV platform, as well as the Freelander brand.
The reborn Freelander brand is independent of Chery's existing lineup and Jaguar Land Rover's existing family of four luxury brands, marking a new phase of strategic development for Chery Jaguar Land Rover, Chery said.
The Freelander was once a model under the Land Rover brand that was a market success from 1997-2015 and was replaced by the Discovery Sport in 2016.
Freelander is expected to get a new lease of life at Chery Jaguar Land Rover and offer a mainstream market-positioned EV lineup, Chery said.
The new Freelander-branded models will be sold in China initially through a specific network and will be exported to overseas markets in the future, according to the statement.
Freelander models will be built by teams from Chery and Jaguar Land Rover and will be produced at Chery Jaguar Land Rover's plant in Changshu, Jiangsu province in eastern China.
Jaguar Land Rover, which is owned by India's Tata Motors, and Chery have a joint venture in China, each with a 50 percent stake.
Last April, Jaguar Land Rover announced it would change its name to JLR and split into four separate brands: Range Rover, Discovery, Defender and Jaguar, all focused on EVs.
On April 15, local media outlet 36kr cited people familiar with the matter as saying that Jaguar Land Rover would become the first luxury automaker to adopt Chery's platform, a partnership that was close to being finalized at the time.
Jaguar Land Rover would build new models using hybrid and all-electric technology platforms from Chery's Exeed brand, according to the report.
Both Chery and Jaguar Land Rover's China team denied the report at the time, saying the information was false.
Jaguar Land Rover becomes the latest foreign brand to utilize technology from a Chinese carmaker.
On July 26, 2023, Volkswagen announced that it would invest about $700 million to acquire about 4.99 percent of Xpeng, and the two companies plan to co-develop two Volkswagen-branded EV models for China's mid-size car market.
Leapmotor announced on October 26 last year that Stellantis would invest 1.5 billion euros in it for a stake of about 20 percent, making it the largest outside shareholder in the EV maker.
Leapmotor's joint venture with Stellantis, Leapmotor International, was officially established on May 14 and will begin selling vehicles in Europe from September.
Leapmotor reportedly begins EV production at Stellantis' Polish plant
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