The Freelander name is heading back onto the global stage – but not quite in the way you might remember. The badge that once sat proudly on Land Rover’s compact 4x4 is being dusted off and reimagined by JLR’s Chinese partner Chery, still working closely with the Brits, in a move that blends British heritage with Chinese engineering ambition.  

This isn’t a one-off nostalgia play, either. The plan is far bigger: six new models are already lined up before the end of the decade, almost one every six months, all sitting under what’s being pitched as a “British premium intelligent all-terrain brand”. In other words, expect something that nods to the Freelander’s past, but with a thoroughly modern, electrified twist.

The unveiling of the new brand and first model took place in Wuhu, Chery’s home turf, where the new operation’s boss, Lucia Mao, set out the ambition in typically grand terms. She spoke about reshaping British heritage through technology and positioning the reborn Freelander as a serious player in the global new energy market. It’s a bold claim, but there’s some substance behind it.

The Freelander 8 will arrive first and we’ve had a good look around it – and it's a bit different to the concept car that was presented just weeks ago. The 8 is a sizeable three-row SUV stretching to just over five metres long and heading initially to the Middle East, but the signs are already pointing towards a wider rollout. UK dealers were at the launch and, unsurprisingly, there’s interest in bringing it back to Britain – the car’s spiritual home.

Visually, there’s no mistaking where the Freelander’s inspiration comes from. The design has been handled by JLR’s team under Philip Simmons, and it shows. The upright stance and bluff nose feel very much in the mould of the Land Rover Defender, while the detailing – including interlinked headlight signatures – is clearly intended to become a family look.

Around the back, there’s a neat nod to the original 1997 three-door Freelander, with a distinctive triangular rear side window making a comeback. It’s even been worked into the new logo, which tells you how keen they are to connect old and new.

That said, this isn’t a straight lift from the Land Rover playbook. There’s a noticeable Chinese flavour to the styling, particularly in some of the busier surfaces and added trim elements. Step inside and that influence becomes even clearer, with a cabin that leans heavily on screens – including a wide digital display running across the dashboard in a similar vein to BMW’s latest Panoramic iDrive in the iX3.

Underneath, it’s very much Chery’s show. The engineering has been handled in-house and production will take place in China, even if the design DNA is British. The Freelander 8 will be offered in multiple global configurations and a European version is already confirmed – a company source told us at the Beijing motor show that the new carmaker was already working on a right-hand-drive version for the UK.

Powertrain details are still fairly light, but what we do know is interesting. The Freelander 8 will use a plug-in hybrid system built around a 2.0-litre petrol engine acting as a generator – effectively a range-extender setup rather than a conventional hybrid. That places it firmly in the growing REV camp, where electric motors do the driving and the engine’s job is simply to keep the battery topped up.

Off-road credibility hasn’t been forgotten, either. Chery is making big claims about what it calls the world’s first intelligent all-terrain system, complete with nine drive modes, a virtual centre differential lock and a rear electronic limited-slip differential. There’s also dual-chamber air suspension to help it cope with tougher terrain, although comparisons with traditional Land Rover systems feel inevitable.

Tech is a major part of the pitch. The Freelander 8 is expected to offer Level Two Plus driver assistance features, along with automated parking functions that allow the car to manoeuvre itself without a driver behind the wheel.

Testing is already well underway, with more than 1,000 prototypes out on the road globally, including in China, Northern Europe and Australia. That spread of locations suggests the development programme is being geared up for a genuinely international launch.

Alongside the Freelander 8, there was also a glimpse of a slightly smaller SUV, measuring around 4.9 metres long, only getting two rows of seats, sharing much of the same design language and likely the 8’s underlying tech. Beyond that, all signs point to a line-up made up entirely of SUVs of various shapes and sizes.

Production will be centred at the Chery-JLR facility in Changshu, which has seen significant investment – over $1.5 billion in total, with hundreds of millions more spent upgrading the plant with advanced robotics and manufacturing tech.

So, while the Freelander name might be familiar, everything else about it is changing. Built in China, engineered by Chery and styled by JLR, it’s a very different proposition to the original. But with a full range on the way and clear ambitions to go global, this revival looks anything but half-hearted.

The Freelander 8 builds on the look of the concept we saw at the Beijing show – both of them much bigger than the 1997 original