Major British car brand to revive iconic model as EV eight years after it was discontinued – but it won’t be made here
A MAJOR British car brand has announced it will revive an iconic model eight years after it was discontinued – but it won’t be made here.
The new project will be a joint enterprise with one of the world’s largest manufacturers.
The Freelander name was initially slapped on a range of Land Rover 4x4s that ran from 1997 to 2015.
An instant hit with drivers, the Mk1 Freelander would sell 540,000 units, making it the best-selling four-wheel drive model in Europe at the time.
However, sales declined to around a tenth of that by 2014 and the model was axed a year later.
The Freelander was largely absorbed by the still-popular Range Rover Evoque, which was introduced in 2011.
Now, though, parent company Jaguar Land Rover has confirmed that the model will return as an all new, electric SUV.
It will be built by Chery, a Chinese manufacturer owned by the provincial government of its base in Wuhu City.
The two brands have been partnered up for 12 years, with Chery already making the Land Rover Discovery, the Evoque and Jaguar’s E-Pace, XF and XE models.
Production of the Freelander will be based at Chery’s factory in eastern China and will only be available in Asia at first.
They will also be sold under the Freelander name alone and be “independent from both Chery’s existing portfolio and JLR’s modern luxury House of Brands”, according to a company spokesperson.
The firm then plans to export the models globally in the future, while JLR will continue to launch its own cars globally, including a new lineup of luxury EVs.
There is yet to be any detail released around design or pricing, but the current Evoque EV starts from £49,000, while the electric Range Rover Sports is £115,805.
CEO Adrian Mardell told Autocar: “Today we are taking this important strategic step for JLR, one which underlines our ongoing commitment to China and complements our existing business in China.
“We believe that working together to develop new models of collaboration for the world’s largest and fastest-growing electric vehicle market, combined with the appeal of the Freelander brand, promises a very exciting future for CJLR.”
It comes after Volvo made a U-turn on its shock decision to discontinue a whole range of cars, with two beloved models returning within weeks.