Chery Is Bringing Its Land Rover Lookalike To The UK

Will it be able to convince Brits to ditch their Defender?

Photo by: Chery

By: Nico DeMattia

Oct 15, at 8:53pm ET

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The Brits love their Land Rovers. And who can blame them? With a rich history, fantastic designs, and some of the best off-road capability found in any vehicle, Land Rovers deserve the hometown love they get. So what will happen when a foreigner comes in with a very similar looking SUV? Chinese automaker Chery is about to find out, as it just announced that it's bringing the iCaur V27 SUV to the UK in 2027.

The iCaur brand isn't exactly popular in the UK. However, Chery's many brands have collectively captured about 7% of Britain's new car market, according to Chery International. It's also the second largest seller after Volskwagen, according to the ⁠Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, per Reuters. With Chery's other brands, Omoda, Lepas and Jaecoo, doing well, the Chinese automaker might be able to get customers behind yet another one. However, the iCaur V27, in addition to having a rather clunky name, clearly takes strong cues from Land Rover and that might annoy some Brits.

Just look at that chunky front end complete with circular headlights. The rest of it seems like a combination of Defender and Lexus GX, which isn't a bad thing. It's a really good looking off-roader.

Photo by: Chery

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Chery didn't say which version of the V27 would be coming to the UK, as it's already on sale in other markets with three different powertrains, both gas and electric. There's a 1.5-liter turbo four-cylinder version, along with two electric ones. If you go electric, you can opt for either a single-motor rear-drive car, or a dual-motor all-wheel-drive one. It might not make much sense to sell the four-pot in the UK, as there's already a four-cylinder Defender. But Land Rover doesn't have an electric Defender, so it would help give customers a reason to buy the V27 if it's all electric.

Interestingly, Chery seems to be tuning the V27 for UK roads. According to Top Gear, it's going to be "tailored" for the UK at the company's Millbrook, England R&D facility.