Jaguar Land Rover and Chery, why do you want to revive Freelander?
The biggest news on June 19th was undoubtedly the announcement by Jaguar Land Rover and Chery Automobile that they have recently signed a letter of intent for strategic cooperation. The two parties plan to jointly promote a new cooperation model, aiming to further strengthen the product matrix of their Chinese joint venture, Chery Jaguar Land Rover, and step into the upcoming era of electrification.
Let's highlight a few key points:
1. The most significant feature of the new product matrix is the use of the "Freelander" brand authorized by Jaguar Land Rover, combined with Chery's electrification platform, to launch and manufacture a series of electric products.
2. The "Freelander," which belongs to Jaguar Land Rover, is not unfamiliar to car enthusiasts. It was a model under the Land Rover brand and achieved great success in the market from 1997 to 2015; it was replaced by the Discovery Sport in 2016.
3. After reviving the "Freelander," the new brand's product matrix is entirely independent of Chery's existing product line and the four new modern luxury brand families of Jaguar Land Rover. This also signifies that Chery Jaguar Land Rover is entering a new strategic development phase.4. The new vehicle will be jointly designed by the creative design teams from Chery and Jaguar Land Rover.
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5. The new product will be manufactured at the Chery Jaguar Land Rover factory in Changshu.
6. "Freelander" will offer a series of electric products positioned for the mainstream market, initially sold in China through a specific network, with future plans for overseas export.
7. It is noteworthy that in the official statements, we observe that the two companies have not established a new joint venture for "Freelander," but instead, they are leveraging the existing advantages of both parties. This implies that "Freelander" remains an asset under the Chery Jaguar Land Rover umbrella.It can be seen that the cooperation between Jaguar Land Rover and Chery this time is different from the way Audi cooperates with Zhiji, Volkswagen with XPeng, and even Mercedes-Benz and Geely have established separate joint ventures specifically for smart.
You can view it as both parties launching a brand-new product series within the existing joint venture and manufacturing system. This brand-new mode of cooperation fully utilizes the advantages of both sides' resources—
Chery has a leading position in electrification and a leading position in the Chinese market;
Jaguar Land Rover, on the other hand, has a unique brand heritage globally and a well-regarded design strength.More importantly, both Chery and Jaguar Land Rover have a strong ambition and eagerness for the burgeoning new energy market in China:
Jaguar Land Rover's Global CEO, Adrian Mardell, stated: "We believe that in China, the world's largest and fastest-growing electric vehicle market, by embarking on this new collaborative model and combining the unique charm of the reborn 'Freelander' brand, we will grant Chery Jaguar Land Rover a broader developmental prospect."
It is quite evident that this is a form of cooperation that has not been seen before in luxury brand joint ventures. In my view, this cooperation has at least the following advantages:
1. For both parties, the investment is less. Chery provides the production line and electrification platform, while Jaguar Land Rover licenses the legendary 'Freelander' brand, which has a historical legacy and a good reputation in both the Chinese and global markets.
2. To be more direct, by utilizing Chery's existing platform, the creative design teams of both Jaguar Land Rover and Chery collaborate to develop this model, and the new Freelander can be launched directly.Chery Holding Group Chairman Yin Tongyao also said: "The integration of Chery's advanced new energy vehicle technology with the unique brand charm of 'Freelander' is sure to bring a more unique new energy product experience to consumers in China and around the world." This directly highlights the biggest highlight of this cooperation, and the press release states:
Both parties will create a mutually beneficial and win-win development prospect.
After going through the news, let's talk about our views on this matter. First of all, I believe that Chery and Jaguar Land Rover's revival of the Freelander is very imaginative. Previously, foreign media have reported that Jaguar Land Rover will use Chery's platform to build plug-in hybrid and pure electric products in the future - this should refer to this cooperation, but it is also obviously a misreading of Chery and Jaguar Land Rover's strategic intentions.
In fact, before announcing the new strategic cooperation, Chery and Jaguar Land Rover's own new energy platforms were independent of each other. Last year, when we interviewed senior executives at Jaguar Land Rover's headquarters in the UK, they assured us at that time:On the one hand, Jaguar Land Rover maintains a keen sense of touch and an open mindset towards the new energy market; on the other hand, products from the brand-new pure electric platform will be unveiled in 2024.
Unofficial information currently obtained by Jia Shi Pai indicates that the first pure electric product, the Range Rover, will make its debut this year, while Jaguar will undergo a brand refresh by the end of this year. The first pure electric model on Jaguar's new platform is expected to be launched in 2025.
Returning to the cooperation between Chery and Jaguar Land Rover, this is a testament to Jaguar Land Rover's keen and open-minded approach to the new energy market. For both shareholders of the joint venture, reviving the Freelander through Chery's electrification platform is undoubtedly an excellent business opportunity and a very timely one.
In the current market, time is of the essence. Both parties can make a relatively small investment to launch a strong assault on China's mainstream electric vehicle market. This type of cooperation fully achieves complementary advantages, and more importantly—efficiency will be high.
The "Freelander" winning a reputation and expected sales in the market in the future is also something that both parties would be delighted to see.As for whether it will impact Jaguar Land Rover's existing sales system? I believe it will not.
In the past two years, the biggest highlight for Jaguar Land Rover in the Chinese market has been the high-end vehicle series like the Defender and Range Rover, which have won extremely high reputation and stable sales, further solidifying the brand's foundation for high-quality sales.
However, the difficulties encountered by Jaguar Land Rover in domestic models are, in fact, something that all luxury brands cannot avoid: impacted by China's new energy and new forces, traditional fuel entry-level and mainstream luxury models are under siege, and the overall market share continues to decline.
Reviving the "Freelander" can be considered a clever move, as it is tailored to the needs of China's mainstream new energy consumers. For both parties, it is a win-win strategy to seek growth in a blank market; Jaguar Land Rover can then focus more on its high-end electric platforms and existing high-value fuel models, further deepening the brand's high-end and high-quality image.Jiashi Summary:
On May 10, 2024, Jaguar Land Rover announced its financial report for the fiscal year 2023/24: a total revenue of 29 billion pounds, a year-on-year increase of 27%.
Jaguar Land Rover's full fiscal year sales volume was 431,733 units, a year-on-year increase of 22%. As of the time of the financial report release, it has achieved year-on-year growth for six consecutive quarters. At the same time, Jaguar Land Rover still holds about 133,000 customer orders globally, among which the demand for the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, and Defender models remains strong, accounting for 76% of global orders.
It is clear that Jaguar Land Rover, which is very business-savvy, on the one hand, will continue to focus on high-end luxury, and on the other hand, will not easily give up the mainstream new energy market in China—the only question now is when the Discovery will be launched, and when this brilliant move will be made.Please provide the text you would like translated into English.
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