Chery enables Land Rover to transform into pure electric vehicles. Will you approve of the resurrected Freelander?

There are dozens of Sino-foreign joint ventures in the Chinese auto market, including Toyota and Volkswagen. In these joint ventures, foreign companies usually play the role of technology exporters.

However, in the era of new energy, this situation has changed, and some "reverse joint ventures" have emerged. Previously, in the cooperation between Volkswagen and Xiaopeng, Audi and SAIC, BYD and Toyota, and Stellantis and Leapmotor, domestic brands have occupied a technological dominant position.

Now, Chery has also joined the ranks. On June 19, Jaguar Land Rover China and Chery Automobile signed a cooperation agreement, authorizing the joint venture brand Chery Jaguar Land Rover to use the "Freelander" brand to promote the development of electric vehicles.

To put it simply, the cooperation between the two parties is as follows: Jaguar Land Rover provides the Freelander brand; Chery is responsible for providing the pure electric platform and other related technologies; the products are produced at the Chery Jaguar Land Rover Changshu plant, but are expected to be exported to overseas markets in the future.

Freelander, once a famous model of Land Rover, was replaced by Land Rover Discovery Sport in 2016. However, Freelander disappeared from the domestic market after the 2004 model; and the monthly sales of Land Rover Discovery Sport currently on sale are only around 1,000 units.

In other words, this brand does not have any special appeal in the current Chinese market. The cooperation between the two parties is actually a typical "reverse joint venture", with Chery as the leader and electrification as the direction, testing the new energy market.

According to the cooperation agreement between the two parties, the new Freelander will be delivered to the joint venture company Chery Jaguar Land Rover. Currently, Chery Jaguar Land Rover has only four models on sale, namely Range Rover Evoque, Discovery Sport and their respective gasoline-to-electric models. The cumulative sales in May were only 1,946 units, which is marginalized in the market.

So, what will the new Freelander look like?

The Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport are both mid-size SUVs, and Land Rover itself is a professional SUV brand, so the new Freelander model should be a pure electric SUV.

As for the price, the current main models of Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport are priced between 350,000 and 450,000 yuan. If nothing unexpected happens, the pure electric SUV of Freelander will also be priced in this range. Consumers are still willing to accept this price, after all, Land Rover is a luxury brand.

Of course, the biggest highlight of this cooperation between the two parties is what technology Chery can bring to the table.

Let’s first take a look at what Chery currently has.

In April 2023, Chery's high-performance pure electric platform E0X built on the Mars architecture was officially released. The platform was developed with Chery's investment of tens of billions of yuan. It is equipped with EEA5.0 electronic and electrical architecture, supports 1000TOPS AI computing power, and adopts a combination of air suspension and CDC suspension. It also supports 800V high-voltage fast charging.

At the same time, the platform is also equipped with the full-scenario intelligent driving assistance system NEP and the Lion intelligent cockpit. In other words, it is an all-round high-performance pure electric platform.

In addition, the platform has another special advantage. According to Chery officials, the platform was developed in accordance with global standards from the beginning, meeting the laws and regulations of more than 50 countries around the world, and can provide support for the export of Freelander models in the future.

Judging from the current situation, the E0X platform may be the basis for the cooperation between Chery and Jaguar Land Rover. Of course, it is not ruled out that Chery will come up with another set of technologies, but even if there is a new platform, it is likely to be a "magic modification" of the E0X platform.

Technically, there is no problem with Chery's E0X pure electric platform, which is generally in the first echelon of the domestic new energy market. If Jaguar Land Rover relies on its own strength, it is unlikely to come up with a pure electric platform of the same technical level in the short term. Cooperating with Chery and seeking technical support is a more rational approach.

So will the cooperation between the two sides really go smoothly?

All I can say is that there is a certain possibility of success, but the possibility is relatively low, or in other words, the challenges you encounter will be greater than you imagined.

First of all, the E0X platform has not proven itself so far.

The first model of the E0X platform, Xingtu Xingjiyuan ES, had an average monthly sales volume of only more than 500 units in 2024; Xingjiyuan ET sold 2,770 units in its first month on the market, and iCAR 03 currently has a stable monthly sales volume of around 4,000 units, but these three cars are all mid-to-low-end models with a price of less than 300,000 yuan.

In order to maintain its high-end positioning, Land Rover is unlikely to allow Freelander models to enter the mid-to-low-end market. It is still difficult to say whether the E0X platform can support Land Rover's high-end positioning.

From Land Rover's perspective, there may be certain variables in this cooperation.

Freelander will be handed over to the joint venture company, and the focus will be on developing the domestic market in the early stage. What is Land Rover's image in China? It is a car for the rich. After entering China for so many years, Land Rover's image has not changed.

Large displacement is a shortcoming of other models, but it is a selling point for Land Rover. It is still unknown whether a Land Rover with a green license plate, light weight and fuel efficiency can be recognized by the local tycoons.

At least for now, Land Rover's new energy models have not met expectations. In May 2024, Land Rover Discovery Sport New Energy and Range Rover Evoque New Energy sold a total of 22 units, which can be said to be terrible. Land Rover is not yet ready for the transition to new energy.

Therefore, it is still hard to say what the cooperation prospects of the two parties will be. In terms of technology, Chery belongs to the first echelon; but in terms of brand, the two parties have no advantages. To some extent, it can even be said to be a weak alliance. The effect remains to be seen. But in any case, it is a good thing that Land Rover is willing to transform. At least it has set a highly feasible example for other foreign luxury brands to marry domestic brands.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.