The first vehicle to wear the revived Freelander name will be a large electrified SUV set for reveal early in 2026, ahead of a launch in China in the second half of the year.
The Freelander name – used between 1997 and 2015 on a Land Rover SUV – will launch as a standalone brand for JLR as part of its fifty-fifty partnership with Chinese automaker Chery.
According to Autocar, the first Freelander is set to be a large plug-in hybrid ‘coupe’ SUV using the same T1X platform used on the Chery Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 SUVs, among others, sold in Australia.
Currently planned for China only, JLR China boss Qing Pan said during a media briefing the Freelander brand has “potential for global expansion”. Autocar has previously reported the brand will launch in the UK before the end of the decade, indicating vehicles will be produced in right-hand drive.
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The JLR China boss also said the first Freelander model will “echo the original spirit of Freelander but [be] brought up to date to appeal to discerning, technologically savvy Chinese consumers”.
The Freelander brand will be sold via Chery dealers and will operate separately to JLR’s ‘House of Brands’, which sees the likes of Defender and Discovery positioned as standalone brands.
After two generations, the Freelander SUV was replaced by the Land Rover Discovery Sport in 2015.
JLR has faced a challenging 2025 after a cyberattack forced multiple factory closures across the globe, including in the UK and Slovakia, costing the company an estimated £50 million ($A100.91m) per week.
With all operations restarting in mid-October, the five-week-plus manufacturing pause saw JLR’s global sales for the quarter ending September 30 – excluding its Chery joint venture in China – fall by 24.2 per cent year-on-year.
On November 1, PB Balaji became JLR CEO after previous CEO Adrain Mardell announced his retirement.
Mr Mardell’s retirement came as the Jaguar brand was on hiatus – and remains so – for a strategic shift aiming to elevate the automaker to compete with the likes of Bentley with more expensive, exclusive vehicles.
Due in 2026, the first Jaguar from the re-established company will be an electric four-door GT based on the controversial Type 00 concept car.
