Chery-JLR’s Freelander 8 tops 10,000 pre-orders in first 48 hours: A Practical Look
- The Freelander 8 opened for pre-sales in China on August 14, with a starting price of 339,900 yuan ($50,080).
- The figure provides an early demand signal as Chery Jaguar Land Rover enters China’s luxury extended-range SUV market.
The revived Freelander brand, backed by a joint venture between Chery (HKEX: 9973) and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), said its first model received more than 10,000 pre-orders within 48 hours of opening for pre-sales.
The Freelander 8 began pre-sales in China on August 14, offering 5 variants with a starting price of 339,900 yuan ($50,080). The brand announced the pre-order figure on Sunday.
Freelander provided no further details. In China, pre-order figures disclosed by automakers are typically based on refundable deposits and are not directly comparable with eventual deliveries.
Still, the figure provides an early demand signal as Chery Jaguar Land Rover enters China’s luxury extended-range SUV market.
The entry-level 5-seat Freelander 8 is priced at 339,900 yuan in pre-sales. The 6-seat lineup starts with the Pro version at 349,900 yuan, followed by the Max at 379,900 yuan and the Max+ at 429,900 yuan. A launch-edition version limited to 1,000 units has a list price of 459,900 yuan and a price of 449,900 yuan for customers who lock in their orders.
All versions come standard with Huawei’s Qiankun ADS 5 assisted-driving system and are among the first vehicles globally to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8397 automotive-grade chip, which delivers 320 TOPS of computing power. The sensing hardware includes an 896-channel LiDAR and a rear solid-state dToF LiDAR.
The Freelander 8 is powered by a 1.5-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder range extender and dual electric motors with all-wheel drive, producing a combined 610 kW (818 hp). It can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.6 seconds.
Its battery is supplied by CATL (HKEX: 3750) and has a capacity of 60.3 kWh, providing a CLTC battery-only range of 310 kilometers.
The vehicle is built on an 800-volt 6C high-voltage platform and can charge from 20% to 80% in as little as 12 minutes. Off-road hardware includes a closed dual-chamber air suspension system, a front mechanical differential lock and the i-ATS intelligent all-terrain system jointly calibrated with Huawei.
Freelander was originally a classic model line under Jaguar Land Rover. It was upgraded into an independent brand focused on new energy vehicles (NEVs) on March 31 this year and plans to launch 6 models over the next 5 years.
The joint venture has committed an additional 3 billion yuan of investment to its factory in Changshu, Jiangsu province, to support the initiative.
The first mass-produced Freelander 8 rolled off the production line in Changshu on July 30. Its first overseas version will be a left-hand-drive model for the Middle East, with a launch expected between the end of this year and early next year.
($1 = 6.7878 yuan)
