(Yicai) April 2 -- Chery Jaguar Land Rover Automotive, the luxury vehicle joint venture of China’s Chery Automobile and the United Kingdom’s Jaguar Land Rover, has stopped making cars with internal combustion engines and launched a new independent electric vehicle brand.

Chery JLR’s last fossil-fuel vehicle, a Range Rover Evoque, rolled off the assembly line at its Changshu plant in China on March 31. The milestone, announced by the JV on the same day as the launch of the new Freelander brand, marks JLR’s formal shift to electrification and intelligent mobility in the country.

Coventry-based JLR has invested CNY3 billion (USD435.8 million) to upgrade and digitize its new energy vehicle production line in Changshu, where all Freelander models will be manufactured.

The Concept97, the first model of the Freelander brand, is equipped with batteries supplied by Contemporary Amperex Technology for range-extended and plug-in hybrid vehicles, and Huawei Technologies’ intelligent driving platform. It will be the first EV to adopt the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8397 auto-grade chips.

Chery JLR expects the Concept97 to enter the Chinese market in the second half of next year. By year-end, Freelander plans to establish a retail network of 100 outlets across 60 cities globally, while rolling out a total of six new models over the next five years.

“With an all-in attitude and determination, Freelander is building a new brand with a new framework to compete in the global market for the next five to 10 years,” said Wen Fei, its global chief executive and Chery JLR’s executive vice president.

“This proves that a deeply integrated and independently operated Chinese team is fully capable of creating a world-class luxury new energy vehicle brand,” he added.

Chery JLR started building the Freelander brand in 2024, with the JLR global team leading design, and the Chery Auto team responsible for engineering development, product sales, and services.

Chery JLR is not the only Chinese JV of a foreign luxury carmaker to launch a new EV brand in the country. Audi announced last November that it has partnered with SAIC Motor to jointly develop a new luxury EV, with the logo of the company’s name in capital letters.

As China’s auto market enters a critical period of convergence between electrification and intelligent technologies, multinational carmakers are shifting from “manufacturing in China” to “developing for China,” and from exporting technology to co-creating locally. Moreover, they are using the technological experiences of their JVs in China to benefit the global market.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione