Chery Eyes Jaguar Land Rover’s UK Plant for Production – Report

Chery is reportedly exploring the use of Jaguar Land Rover’s existing factories in the UK to produce their vehicles.

Chinese top vehicle exporter Chery is reportedly interested in exploring the idea of using Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) existing production facilities in the UK to produce their own cars.

As reported by Financial Times and CarNewsChina, discussions between the Wuhu-based marque and JLR were still at an early stage, with no finalised terms agreed for now. That said, the potential agreement discussed between the two would involve Chery producing and assembling their vehicles at facilities currently operated by JLR.

JLR's Solihull plant in the UK could potentially become Chery's new production site in Europe.

The whole discussion is part of the incentives made by the UK government, as it has publicly expressed interest in attracting Chinese car brands like Chery to manufacture their vehicles domestically, with JLR’s plants being identified as a potential option.

From the UK government’s perspective, cooperation with foreign automakers like Chery could help them to achieve their domestic production target of 1.3 million vehicles annually by 2035. For comparison, the UK's Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders estimated that the nation’s vehicle production volume only reached 738,000 units in 2025, meaning that any collaboration with foreign automakers could help to bridge that huge gap.

As for the Chery Group, their Omoda & Jaecoo sub-brands have been among the fastest-growing Chinese brands in the UK market, and this proposal may have come at the perfect time. That said, insiders at Chery did highlight that both the high energy and labour costs in the UK are the key challenges for the group to explore local manufacturing and capacity expansion in the nation.

That said, Chery is no stranger to assembling cars in Europe, as the automaker already owns a manufacturing facility in Barcelona, Spain, which was recently acquired from Nissan. In addition to that, the automaker also reached an agreement with Nissan to acquire one of its production facilities in South Africa.

As for Chery’s relationship with JLR, both brands have worked together before, with JLR previously licencing its Freelander brand to Chery for a new EV SUV set to debut in the Middle East later this year. In China, Chery has also partnered with JLR to assemble Jaguar and Land Rover cars for domestic market consumption that started way back in 2012.