For all those who mourned when the classic Land Rover Freelander model was replaced by the Discovery Sport (were there any of you who actually mourned?) there is some good news today – the Freelander is coming back.
However, the new Freelander is not, technically, a Land Rover. It is instead a brand all of its own, and it’s 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 – and its owners, the Indian-based Tata Group – thinks it’s better to join them if you can’t beat them.
The new Freelander will be made in China, using a Chery-designed platform which can support fully electric 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.
It’s not just for China, either – 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.
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Land Rover’s 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 – something that is still far from confirmed.
“The 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 4x4 SUV capability, urban versatility and sheer driving pleasure,” said Freelander’s 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). “We aspire to bring the spirit of exploration into encounter with the power of China’s new energy technology, igniting between them an inexhaustible and transformative energy.”
This new Freelander – and technical details for this particular model are very thin on the ground for now – 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’s removable roof panel.
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.
At first, Freelander’s 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’s impressive vehicle dynamics team to ensure that these new cars are up to European snuff in handling and steering terms.
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While we don’t have any technical details yet, Freelander did confirm that its first model is a “rugged 4x4″ rather than a softly-softly SUV and that it supports ultra-fast 800-volt charging, suggesting that it’s fully electric, rather than a hybrid, at least initially. Freelander’s cars will be built in a joint JLR-Chery factory in Changshu, China, which was previously the home of locally-made Range Rover Evoques.
Freelander is not the only Chinese brand making a new start for itself in Europe. It’s 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.
Volvo’s chief commercial officer Erik Severinson said: “With this new arrangement, we will leverage our commercial system to support Lynk & Co’s 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.”
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’s existing dealer networks, looks like a safer bet and – similar to the potential retail arrangements that are likely to emerge with Freelander in Europe – Lynk & Co will give Volvo dealers something with a lower price point, allowing them to tempt in a different demographic of buyers.
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: “It is too early to confirm any further details.”
