Freelander Aims for 300 Thousand Cars per Year, the First Test Comes from Freelander 8

Freelander immediately set a high target before its first model was really tested in the market. The new energy vehicle brand formed by Chery Jaguar Land Rover is targeting sales of more than 300,000 units per year in the next three to five years.

CarNewsChina quoted Sunday, August 2, reported that the target appeared ahead of the pre-sale of the Freelander 8 on August 10. The SUV is the first production model of the Freelander.

Quoting Global Freelander CEO Wen Fei's statement, which was previously reported by the Daily Economic News, the target of 300,000 units per year is evenly divided for the Chinese and overseas markets. Each is targeted to absorb 150,000 units per year.

However, that figure is still a company target. Not a sales projection, let alone the achievements that have occurred.

Freelander 8 began mass production after the first unit came off the Chery Jaguar Land Rover production line in Changshu on July 30.

Wen said the Freelander 8 is expected to be the starting point for sales of the brand. The monthly target is in the range of 5,000 to 8,000 units.

He said the figure of 10,000 units per month was a high target, not a basic benchmark.

Freelander is also preparing six models in the next five years. The models will include electric vehicles with range extenders, plug-in hybrids, and battery electric cars.

Range extenders are small gasoline engines used to recharge batteries when electric cars need additional mileage. In systems like this, gasoline engines are generally used as power amplifiers, not the main source of wheel drive.

Plug-in hybrids are cars that combine a gasoline engine and an electric motor, with a battery that can be charged from an external power source.

According to the company, the Freelander product line will follow the "1+3" strategy. The strategy includes left-hand drive variants for China, global left-hand drive, European specifications, and right-hand drive.

Wen also said Freelander had been authorized to make decisions independently from its two shareholders, Chery and Jaguar Land Rover. However, the company has not explained the legal scope of this authority.

Freelander 8 production is underway as Chery Jaguar Land Rover ramps up Changshu operations.

The factory opened in 2014 with a capacity of 200,000 vehicles per year. Previously, the factory produced Jaguar Land Rover models for the Chinese market.

Production of locally assembled internal combustion engine cars was halted after Chery Jaguar Land Rover's annual sales fell to around 26,000 units in 2025.

China EV DataTracker data shows Land Rover recorded 3,283 retail deliveries in China in June 2026. The figure was up from 997 units in May.

The increase comes after a major discount campaign for the Chinese-made Range Rover Evoque L. The price of the model was cut by 229,800 yuan or about 34,040 US dollars in China.

Previous reports had linked the June surge in shipments to a stockpiling spree of locally assembled internal combustion engine models before the Changshu plant switched to Freelander production.

According to CarNewsChina, the June results better reflect the short-term impact of stock emptying and price cuts. The figure has not yet shown enough of a truly sustainable growth in demand.

From the product side, the regulatory document shows that the Freelander 8 has a length of 5,118 millimeters and a wheelbase of 3,040 millimeters.

The SUV with a range extender uses a 60.33 kWh CATL battery and a 1.5-liter turbo engine as a power booster. The combination gives a pure electric range of 221 kilometers according to CLTC.

CLTC is a vehicle mileage testing standard used in China. The figure in the real world can be different, depending on how you drive, road conditions, and vehicle features.

The Freelander 8 is also equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8397 cockpit processor and Huawei Qiankun ADS 5 driving assistance system. The system uses an 896-line LiDAR sensor.

LiDAR is a sensor that uses laser light to read the distance and shape of objects around the vehicle. This technology is often used in driving assistance systems.

Freelander said it will be present in more than 90 countries in the next five years. The company is preparing a retail network of more than 1,100 locations.

The nearest stage of the Freelander is now on August 10, when the pre-sale of the Freelander 8 opens and the initial market response begins to be seen.