It can be difficult to keep track of all the Chinese car brands coming to Australia, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of just Chery’s.
Chery Australia has confirmed it will launch the Freelander brand here next year after the news first broke TheAutoExec last week.
“The plan is to launch the Freelander brand here in 2027, but no further details are available at this time,” a spokesperson said in a statement Daily Sparkz.
The Freelander brand, introduced last month with the Concept 97, is a creation not only of Chery, but also of its joint venture partner JLR (also known as Jaguar Land Rover).
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Chery and JLR have had a joint venture in China since 2012, with the Chinese automaker producing vehicles for its British partner to sell in the domestic market.
Now this partnership is taking a crucial turning point: Chery will produce Freelanders for both the Chinese domestic market and the global market.
Freelander has yet to reveal a production model, while details on its only concept to date are scarce, which explains the brevity of Chery Australia’s statement.
It won’t be the only brand from Chery’s menagerie to land here by the end of 2027.
Leave is set to launch here in the middle of this year and is expected to offer a range of small to large crossover SUVs – like Chery And Omoda Jacobo – but with a focus on strong colors.
The iCaur The brand, which offers a range of electric vehicles (EVs) and range-extended electric vehicles (EREVs) with boxy SUV bodies, is expected to land here in early 2027.
Jetour has also sent media invitations in advance of a planned market launch around mid-2026, but will operate independently of the Chery Group brands.
These brands will have to establish themselves in Australia under unknown names, although Chery-owned Omoda Jaecoo has been working on this since deliveries began in 2025.
First announced in 2024, the Freelander brand will enjoy at least a somewhat well-known name.
This name was taken from a Land Rover that was sold here over two generations from 1998 to 2015 and of which a total of 15,218 examples reached customers.
Unveiled this year, the Concept 97 is named after the Freelander’s first year of production and features different exterior design elements from both generations of Land Rover’s former entry-level SUV.
Inside, however, the concept is largely a product of the 2020s. This includes a large free-standing infotainment touchscreen and a pillar-to-pillar display at the bottom of the windshield.
No details have been released about what will power the production version, but it is expected to use Chery’s T1X platform, which supports plug-in hybrid and electric powertrains.
Chery says its brands don’t fall on a typical ladder from entry-level to luxury, but instead target different customer groups.
However, at least on paper, there is significant overlap. For example, Chery and Omoda Jaecoo both offer competing small, medium and large crossover SUVs, followed by Lepas; iCaur and Freelander will also offer boxy and probably electrified SUVs.
MORE: The Freelander Concept 97 previews the first model from the joint venture between Land Rover and Chery
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MORE: Chery’s boxy SUV brand is coming to Australia, but we still don’t know how to pronounce it
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