Land Rover Let The Freelander Go. China Brought It Back As An Electrified SUV

The Freelander name has been dormant since 2015, but Jaguar Land Rover’s Chinese joint venture with Chery has brought it back as something entirely new. Instead of a badge within Land Rover’s lineup, it now stands alone as its own brand, focused squarely on electrified off-roaders. The first look at that direction comes in the form of a concept rather than a production-ready model.

The Concept 97 takes its name from the Freelander’s original 1997 debut. While it wears no Land Rover badges, its design still leans heavily on the brand’s visual language, blending cues from the original Freelander with elements reminiscent of the modern Defender. The design is a product of collaboration between the teams at the UK and China.

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The company showed two cocnept models, finished in Glacier Blue and Thousand Mountain Green. Both feature black cladding paired with aluminum accents across the hood, grille, skid plate, and tailgate. The wheels and tires lean toward concept-car theatrics, and the suicide doors underline that this is still very much a showpiece. Expect those to give way to something more conventional in production, unless Land Rover decides to keep things interesting, at least with the doors.

Design Details Pull From Different Eras

Look closer and the references become more specific. The angled D-pillar is a clear callback to the three-door Freelander from 1997, including the era when it even offered a soft-top. Meanwhile, the black trim beneath the headlights and the pixel-style LED arrangement echo the facelifted model introduced in 2003.

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Around back, the taillights are tucked into a strip of black trim, contrasting against an upright aluminum-finished tailgate. The rear skid plate mirrors the front, and a sizeable roof spoiler caps things off with a slightly more modern flourish.

High-Tech Interior With Six Seats

The interior adopts a three-row six-seater configuration, with a rear bench that looks like a couch. A pillar-to-pillar display is mounted on the base of the windshield, joined by a large infotainment touchscreen. We can also see a pair of rotating dials and physical buttons on the steering wheel, alongside traditional stalks.

Second-row passengers have access to a drop-down screen, and a high-mounted center console similar to the one between the front seats. The SUV is also equipped with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8397 chip, and Huawei’s Qiankun Intelligent Driving ADS 4.1 system featuring a 896-line LiDAR sensor.

Six Models Planned, But Not For Everyone

This is not a one-off exercise. The company says six production models will arrive under the Freelander brand over the next five years. China comes first, with global expansion planned afterward, although that rollout carries a significant caveat.

Every model will be built at the CJLR plant in Changshu, effectively replacing the soon-to-be discontinued Land Rover Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque on the production line. With production rooted entirely in China, current US tariff conditions make an American launch highly unlikely. Canada, however, thanks to newly reduced tariffs, could still be in play.

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The SUVs are expected to ride on Chery underpinnings, supporting range-extender, plug-in hybrid, and fully electric powertrains. Based on earlier spy shots and leaked images, the first production Freelander of this new era will likely be a three-row, six-seat model, closely mirroring the Concept 97.

Photos Chery Jaguar Land Rover, Weibo