We’ve seen the exterior of the new production version of the Freelander 8 when it made its debut at a theatre festival in China, but now we’ve got a glimpse of the inside. 

We’d not yet seen a finished interior on the car despite it already being on sale in the country, and this latest reveal gives us a good hint of what to expect when the car eventually makes its way over to European shores in late-2027. 

These pictures of the Freelander 8’s cabin have been circulating on Chinese media, and give our first look at what Freelander calls its “intelligent cabin”, dominated by the eye-catching 46.3in screen that stretches practically the full width of the dashboard to provide the driver and passenger with information. 

The name of the screen translates as ‘Surround gallery’ from Chinese, though there will no doubt be a much snappier name once we see an official European version of the car. The 1.2-metre wide screen features an 8K display. 

The floating 15.6in touchscreen below is similarly slick, though perhaps a little more conventional, the whole effort powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip that you’ll more often find in high end phones and laptops, adapted for use in cars.

The chunky design of the cabin pays homage to more recent design cues from the Land Rover Freelander. Where the 1997 original was fairly dour and grey, the second-generation car in 2006 was significantly more stylish, with a blocky motif and improved materials that made the whole experience feel much fancier. 

Elsewhere inside the Freelander 8, the rotary switchgear controls have apparently been made using techniques borrowed from watchmaking, there are a variety of hidden storage compartments and a scent described by the company as “British manor-inspired”. That's either going to be musty furniture, or the coffee-infused scent of a National Trust cafe. 

In other news this week it was revealed that Jaguar Land Rover has officially stopped making its vehicles in China, with the factories being repurposed to build cars from its Freelander joint venture with Chery. The 8 is the first car from the partnership, but there are plans for five more to come within the next five years. 

The 8 is already on sale in China, but deliveries aren't expected to start for another month or two yet.