JLR and Chery's new 4x4 brand is eyeing rapid global expansion - where does that leave Land Rover itself?
JLR and its Chinese partner Chery have revealed the first model in the standalone Freelander range of cars – but there remains a question: where would this fit in the current Land Rover and Range Rover line-up? The first of the new Freelander cars will be a chunky, three-row plug-in hybrid with familiar off-road design cues mixed with advanced technology, for example a take on BMW’s ‘Panoramic Vision’ coast-to-coast screen sitting under the windscreen.
The platform and tech comes from Chery, much of which will be familiar to buyers of the Omoda 9 or Chery Tiggo 9. It’s clearly the right car for the right time - but could it work in the UK? Chery-JLR has established a retail network in China already, but not said which half of the joint venture will take the lead on sales in export markets like Europe. On one hand this is clearly a car that JLR dealers will clamour to stock. The success of Omoda, Jaecoo and Tiggo models shows us that Chery’s ubiquitous T1X platform on which the Freelander also sits has passed the first hurdle of acceptability. Freelander might be standalone but the new Concept 97 shows that JLR’s supervision has nailed the aesthetic enough to bring fresh weight to a nameplate that most Brits will already know well. A seven-seat plug-in hybrid with the latest tech in a fresh off-road styling package with the heft of JLR behind it ticks a lot of boxes. So we can be fairly confident it would sell in the UK. But cannibalisation has always been a problem at JLR with its focus on SUVs. Most at risk of being eaten is the upcoming Defender Sport. Designed on JLR’s EMA electric platform and expected next year, this is also a chunky off-roader with the latest tech. Except it’ll be built in Liverpool and not Shanghai, with the attendant cost hike that’ll bring. And it’ll lack the combustion engine option that Freelander has. Any Freelander import would also knock any remaining stuffing out of the Discovery Sport and maybe even the Discovery too, given the likely price and tech advantage. Maybe JLR has commissioned its joint venture to produce a Defender Sport 130 plug-in hybrid based on the Chery platform for export. Then it could have a model that brings all the tech and cost-saving associated with China development but with a higher level of finish and brand elevation than Freelander to separate the two. Or perhaps it signifies a more radical approach. Chery has shown it is more than willing to inundate markets with new brands as it experiments with what works and what doesn’t. JLR meanwhile is the brand curator par excellence. With Freelander, it might have the courage to be able to say that this is now the new Discovery, the entry brand with practical tech appeal that leverages the nimble Chinese automotive sphere of influence. JLR has previously said Freelander will sit outside its ‘House of Brands’, but with Discovery the weakest occupant of the house and no sign of help arriving, this could plug a gap that lets JLR concentrate on its real money spinners led by the Range Rover. The reverse option of shutting the door on Freelander just doesn’t seem tenable.
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