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• The Chery Jaguar Land Rover joint venture launched the new EREV car under the Freelander brand in China.
• The Freelander series is planned to expand to a total of six different models over the next five years.
• Road tests are underway in the Middle East for its global debut and the car will be unveiled in Abu Dhabi in September.

Chery Jaguar Land Rover, a joint venture between China's local automaker Chery Automobile and India's Tata Motors subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover, has launched the first model under its new 'Freelander' brand. The launch took place at a pre-sale event held in Changshu, Jiangsu Province.

Land Rover's popular entry-level compact SUV, produced in the UK between 1997 and 2015, has been rebranded as the 'Freelander'. Now the name has been reintroduced as a separate sub-brand under the Chery Jaguar Land Rover joint venture.

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The pre-sale of the extended range electric vehicle 'Freelander 8' has started from August 14. Its 5-seater model starts at 3,39,900 Yuan (US$50,430), while the top-spec 6-seater model is priced at 4,29,900 Yuan (US$63,780). Test rounds of these cars have started on local roads in Middle East countries. This is considered a major step towards the brand's international debut in Abu Dhabi in September this year.

The 'Freelander 8' model is based on Chery's E0X 800-volt platform, featuring a 1.5-litre range extender engine and a 60-kWh CATL battery pack. Its dual electric motors generate a maximum power of 818 hp. Running on BEV (Battery Electric) mode only, this battery gives a range of 310 km.

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This model includes Huawei's 'ADS 5' driver assistance system and connectivity technology powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. Also, it gets the 'i-ATS' intelligent all-terrain system, which automatically adjusts the suspension settings according to different road conditions. The Freelander 8 is being manufactured at the joint venture's state-of-the-art plant in Changshu with a capacity of 2 lakh vehicles per year. For this, the plant has been upgraded with a fund of 3 billion yuan. This project will serve as the main production base of the Freelander series. In the next five years, the series is expected to expand to a total of six models including BEV, PHEV and EREV.

The upgraded plant has more than 1,100 robots, a fully automated body shop and a digital quality traceability system. The company says this enables high levels of accuracy and consistency in production.