Freelander has begun building its first production model, the Freelander 8, at a factory in Changshu near Shanghai, with the large SUV due in Australian showrooms in 2027. The start of production was confirmed by JLR in its August financial update, which marked the July 30, 2026 milestone, while Chery said manufacturing for international markets was also underway.
The launch is backed by a US$440 million (about A$630 million) upgrade of the Changshu plant, which Freelander describes as a comprehensive overhaul of its intelligent manufacturing system for new energy vehicle production. That spending sits within a wider investment in the site that Freelander now puts at more than US$3.1 billion (about A$4.44 billion).
What the Changshu investment covers
Freelander confirmed the scale of the manufacturing upgrade in written answers supplied to media, saying the US$440 million had been dedicated to the new energy vehicle production system. An August manufacturing announcement explicitly included that upgrade within the larger US$3.1 billion total for the facility.
The previously disclosed factory upgrade supports the brand's international manufacturing program, and no separate Australian production allocation appears in the media material. Neither JLR's financial update nor Chery's announcement specified a production start for Australia or how many vehicles are earmarked for this market.
Changshu gives the new brand an established manufacturing base previously used to build Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles, including the Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport. The partners' original June 2024 announcement proposed licensing the Freelander name to the joint venture for vehicles using Chery's electric vehicle architecture, with the new models to be built alongside the factory's existing range. By May 2025 there were reports of plans to phase out the plant's Jaguar and Land Rover models to make room for Freelander.
Australian timing, pricing and powertrain still open
The Freelander 8 is due in Australia in 2027, but Australian pricing and the local model lineup remain unannounced. Readers asking what the SUV will cost here will not find an answer yet: no Australian pricing has been released, and the sources give no indication of when it might be.
The same applies to the powertrain. Freelander has not published details of the production 8's electric or electrified drivetrain in the material available, so power, torque, battery size and range figures for the Australian car cannot be stated. The factory investment is framed around new energy vehicle production, which points to an electrified line-up, but the specific specification has not been confirmed.
The brand's structure differs sharply from the original Land Rover Freelander. JLR owns the name and has set up a dedicated design hub to lead its design, while Chery provides technology and supply-chain support, and Freelander operates separately from JLR.
A familiar name on unfamiliar foundations
Reviving a badge with the Freelander's history carries expectations, and the new operation is not a straightforward continuation of the old model line. The name is owned by JLR, the engineering and supply chain come from Chery, and the vehicles are built in China rather than in the UK.
For Australian buyers, the practical effect is that the Freelander 8 will arrive as a Chery-engineered, JLR-designed SUV built on a Chinese production line that once turned out Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport models. The Changshu upgrade suggests the joint venture is treating the brand as a long-term electrified play rather than a short experiment, though the Australian allocation remains the open question.
