Defender lookalike could come to UK as Jaecoo 6

​A new, all-electric SUV with more than a hint of Land Rover Defender – from the back, at least – could be coming to the UK wearing a Jaecoo badge.

Jaecoo is Chinese firm Chery’s global premium brand and sister company to Omoda, whose first car, the Omoda 5, will be arriving with UK customers in the coming weeks.

Jaecoo has already announced that it will be bringing the plug-in hybrid Jaecoo 7 and plug-in hybrid 8 models to the UK, sharing technology with the recently announced Omoda 7, and Electrifying can exclusively reveal that a smaller model with a familiar look could also be arriving.

Among the many unveils at the recent Beijing Auto Show was the 03 from iCar, another Chery brand that sits alongside Jaecoo, Omoda and others. This boxy SUV with an upright Defender-esque rear end and side-hinged rear door, squared-off shoulders, creaseless side panels with fold-out door handles and a more advanced-looking, but still bluff front end, wowed showgoers. 

Although the car was launched with iCar badging at the show, it has also been spotted wearing Jaecoo badging and Electrifying understands that it could be heading for the UK as the Jaecoo 6.

There are plenty of usable features inside the car with dozens of storage spaces, power sockets and straps to hold items in place, while what looks like a square spare wheel cover on the back door is actually additional storage.

The interior design is as rugged as the outside, although lacking some of the clever design features of the Defender. The dash also has a horizontal theme, though, with no buttons and just a large touchscreen sitting in the centre above a centre console with large grab handles. The driver gets a digital display in front of them, while the air vents all have metallic finishes.

The Jaecoo 6 will be considerably smaller than the Defender, though. At 4.4m long it’s about 0.3m shorter and similar in size to a Nissan Qashqai, although its more upright style gives more passenger and boot space than the British-built SUV.

The 6 has a very different powertrain to the Defender, too – it’s all-electric with a 70kWh battery with a range of just over 300 miles. For the iCar 03 there’s a choice of either rear- or all-wheel drive, with power outputs of 184 or 279bhp. We wouldn’t be surprised if only the more powerful four-wheel drive version came to the UK, in keeping with Jaecoo’s upmarket positioning.

If Jaecoo does decide to bring the 06 to the UK, it’s unlikely that it will be before 2025 and possibly into 2026.

Despite the looks, the Jaecoo 6 will be considerably smaller than the Defender, at 4.4m long