{"id":894686,"date":"2026-04-15T02:00:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T02:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/894686\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T02:00:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T02:00:18","slug":"freelander-name-returns-as-a-chinese-ev-and-its-coming-to-europe-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/894686\/","title":{"rendered":"Freelander name returns as a Chinese EV \u2013 and it\u2019s coming to Europe \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

For all those who mourned when the classic Land Rover<\/a> Freelander model was replaced by the Discovery Sport (were there any of you who actually mourned?) there is some good news today \u2013 the Freelander is coming back. <\/p>\n

However, the new Freelander is not, technically, a Land Rover. It is instead a brand all of its own, and it\u2019s now a collaboration between Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and Chinese car maker Chery, which is already making serious inroads into the European car market with its eponymously-badged Tiggo SUVs, as well as the hugely successful Omoda and Jaecoo brands. Clearly, JLR \u2013 and its owners, the Indian-based Tata Group \u2013 thinks it\u2019s better to join them if you can\u2019t beat them. <\/p>\n

The new Freelander will be made in China<\/a>, using a Chery-designed platform which can support fully electric<\/a> models, as well as range-extender and plug-in hybrid power. Such a move will be a welcome bit of bet-hedging for JLR, which has been severely caught out in the past by backing the wrong powertrain horses. The Freelander brand says that this initial model is just the start, and that it will be introducing a new model or variant every six months over the next five years. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just for China, either \u2013 Freelander has already confirmed that it will be coming to Europe, which must surely seem like manna from heaven for Jaguar Land Rover dealerships that have been starved of late of new Jaguar product (as the company gears up for its super-luxury, all-electric future based around the occasionally controversial X900 model) not to mention that more affordably-priced products would certainly be welcome. <\/p>\n

Land Rover\u2019s recent success has been built entirely around the very expensive Defender and Range Rover models, while sales of the smaller Evoque and Discovery Sport have withered as those cars have aged, and increased in price. A more cut-price Freelander could find plenty of willing customers at a lower price point. That is, of course, assuming that JLR and Chery will leverage the existing dealer network \u2013 something that is still far from confirmed. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe genesis of the Freelander lay in recognition of the tremendous success of urban multipurpose SUVs across European and North American markets, inspiring the creation of an entirely new vehicle that would unite 4×4 SUV capability, urban versatility and sheer driving pleasure,\u201d said Freelander\u2019s chief executive Wei Lan, referencing the fact that the original Land Rover Freelander was, for many years, the bestselling small SUV across Europe (mind you, it had more of an open goal in the marketplace back then). \u201cWe aspire to bring the spirit of exploration into encounter with the power of China\u2019s new energy technology, igniting between them an inexhaustible and transformative energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

This new Freelander \u2013 and technical details for this particular model are very thin on the ground for now \u2013 certainly has some styling cues from the 1997 original, including inset and overlapping twin headlights, and a distinctive sloped rear roof pillar, behind which some blacked-out bodywork sits, reminiscent of the first-gen Freelander\u2019s removable roof panel. <\/p>\n

Most striking of all are the doors: the rear doors are rear-hinged, like those of a Rolls-Royce, although, as this particular Freelander is still a concept, those might not make it into production. <\/p>\n

At first, Freelander\u2019s models will be sold in China. Still, Lan confirmed that exports to Europe and the wider world will commence in short order, and that each model will be carefully re-engineered to meet local tastes, doubtless leveraging JLR\u2019s impressive vehicle dynamics team to ensure that these new cars are up to European snuff in handling and steering terms. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0EV sales set to overtake petrol as hybrids dominate new car marketOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

While we don\u2019t have any technical details yet, Freelander did confirm that its first model is a \u201crugged 4×4\u2033 rather than a softly-softly SUV and that it supports ultra-fast 800-volt charging, suggesting that it\u2019s fully electric, rather than a hybrid, at least initially. Freelander\u2019s cars will be built in a joint JLR-Chery factory in Changshu, China, which was previously the home of locally-made Range Rover Evoques. <\/p>\n

Freelander is not the only Chinese brand making a new start for itself in Europe. It\u2019s also been confirmed that Volvo will take on the task of importing Chinese-made Lynk & Co cars on this side of the world, which is a natural fit as both Volvo and Lynk & Co are owned by the Geely Group and, indeed, many of the cars share platforms and components. <\/p>\n

Volvo\u2019s chief commercial officer Erik Severinson said: \u201cWith this new arrangement, we will leverage our commercial system to support Lynk & Co\u2019s growth ambitions in Europe. At the same time, it enables Volvo Cars and our retail partners to address a wider customer base. With the support of our retailers and our commercial organisation, Lynk & Co can achieve its true potential in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lynk & Co has had cars on sale in continental Europe before, but the brand has struggled somewhat, not least because it was initially introduced with a subscription-based ownership offering that few European buyers were keen on. A more conventional sales route, through Volvo\u2019s existing dealer networks, looks like a safer bet and \u2013 similar to the potential retail arrangements that are likely to emerge with Freelander in Europe \u2013 Lynk & Co will give Volvo dealers something with a lower price point, allowing them to tempt in a different demographic of buyers. <\/p>\n

As for Ireland, The Irish Times contacted Volvo Cars Ireland to see if Lynk & Co models would be arriving in local dealerships, but we were told: \u201cIt is too early to confirm any further details.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For all those who mourned when the classic Land Rover Freelander model was replaced by the Discovery Sport…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":894687,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5174],"tags":[1305,2000,299,5187,135924,1440,238673],"class_list":["post-894686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-eu","tag-electric-vehicles","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-european","tag-jaguar","tag-land-rover","tag-volvo-group"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116406257468906057","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=894686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/894687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=894686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=894686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=894686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}