Aston Martin, Bentley, McLaren, Jaguar Land Rover; Britain can win big in the luxury car market

August is supposed to be the silly season. Traditionally, it’s the month when nothing much happens in the automotive business, because some manufacturers, especially those in mainland Europe, pretty much shut down for a few weeks. 

But try telling the hard-working folk at several – not all – of Britain’s most prestigious luxury and sports car companies that August is about unwinding. 

As we’ve been reporting in recent weeks, the likes of Aston Martin, Bentley, Gordon Murray Automotive, Lotus and McLaren have all been strutting their stuff on the national and international automotive stage. 

These guys have been working overtime. Is there another country in the world that can match or beat Britain when it comes to designing and building properly prestigious sports and luxury models with provenance as standard? 

Perhaps the future for the UK is quality not quantity; with our homegrown firms continuing to design, engineer and build their high-value, beyond-premium cars here before selling them in all corners of the globe?

Admittedly, long gone are the days when UK (or UK-based) manufacturers could churn out cars before piling them high and selling ’em cheap. That market now belongs to the Chinese, whether they’re building on home soil or in foreign lands.

Talking of which, when Chery Auto announced that its China-built Freelander 8 would start from £37,000 there this month, it took 10,000 pre-orders in 48 hours. So, the inevitable question: is it a Land Rover or is it a Chery? 

The JLR CEO, PB Balaji, reckons his company owns the design, but admits “in terms of engineering, manufacturing and selling it, it’s Chery’s car. It is completely their baby”. Freelander 8 is likely to go on sale in Britain next year, but Land Rover badges will not appear on its bodywork and it won’t be sold via the official Land Rover dealer network. Inevitably, its retail price here will be higher than in its native China. 

However, the aim is for this to be not just a large car (almost 5.2m long), but also one that will sell here in large numbers. If it’s to do that, it has to be aggressively priced. Maybe, just maybe, it’ll be in the same sort of £45,000-£58,000 (ouch) bracket as the Range Rover Evoque.

It will also be fascinating to see what Chery gets up to when it opens its R&D centre at Millbrook, Bedfordshire, this autumn. It’s part of what the firm calls a “long-term growth plan for the UK”. It will likely start building Cherys with ‘Made in Britain’ badges when it takes over one of Nissan’s two production lines in Sunderland.

If JLR wants little to do with Chery Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Co Ltd (CJLR), maybe it’s time the powers that be take a leaf out of its parent company’s playbook, and start building the Freelander in Sunderland? That’d show ‘em what they’re missing. 

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