CHINESE car giant Chery is close to agreeing a deal with Jaguar Land Rover – that would allow them to build their motors in the UK.
Seen as potentially beneficial both for Britain’s under-pressure car manufacturing sector and for Chery’s longer-term position in the British market, the deal has been linked to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visit to Beijing and efforts to strengthen UK-China trade ties.
According to Auto Express, the PM’s discussions are said to include the two countries’ automotive industries, with this prospective JLR-Chery arrangement seen as one of the possible outcomes.
The two companies already have an established relationship through a joint venture created in 2012 – Chery Jaguar Land Rover – which manufactures some JLR models in China.
Even though JLR’s sales reportedly fell in 2025, China is still described as JLR’s second-largest market outside the US.
In fact, some products are being aimed squarely at Chinese customers – including the upcoming electric Freelander that will be exclusively produced for that market.
Chery could also help JLR make better use of unused capacity at JLR’s UK factories.
This would include filling spare production headroom, meaning JLR could improve plant utilisation, protect employment and bring in additional revenue.
And the latter would be seen as especially important after a horrendous 2025 for the iconic carmaker – which was ravaged by a cyber attack that forced production to stop for more than five weeks.
Chery’s UK brand growth has been strong and local production would be positive for both output and consumers.
Statistics show over 5,500 Chery cars were sold last year – which is seen as especially impressive considering they only entered the British market in August 2025.
Naturally, sales are expected to rise, helped by the recent launch of the Tiggo 9 seven-seat SUV in October.
Sun Motors has approached JLR for a comment.
This comes as recent reports suggested Jaguar could be looking to bring petrol power back into the mix for its next generation of cars – in what may be a shift from its all‑electric pledge.
The British brand previously set out plans to reinvent itself as an electric-only carmaker – even pausing production as it prepares its new line-up.
But The Times reports that sources close to the company say engineers have been asked to develop a system involving a small petrol engine.
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