Move over Land Rover and Toyota — there’s a new tough guy on the block, and it’s wearing a badge you’ve probably never heard of. Meet the iCaur V27, a burly new 4×4 from Chinese car-making behemoth Chery, which has clearly been eyeing the Defender 110 and Land Cruiser with a mix of admiration and quiet menace.

At first glance, the V27 looks every inch the off-roader: boxy stance, upright proportions, and enough purposeful cladding to make it look like it’s ready to chew through Mongolia before breakfast. It’s the biggest model yet from iCaur (known as iCar back home in China — until Apple’s lawyers got twitchy). Still, despite its bulk, it’s actually a touch shorter and narrower than the Defender, which means it might just squeeze into a British car park without tears.

Underneath the rugged styling lies something much more modern: a range-extender hybrid setup. There’s a 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine, but don’t expect it to drive the wheels — that’s not its job. Instead, it quietly hums away as a generator, feeding electrons to one or two electric motors depending on spec. In the dual-motor version, you’re looking at 449bhp, which means it’ll have enough grunt to fling its chunky frame up a muddy incline with a smug grin.

iCaur claims the V27 will go 124 miles on electric power alone, though that’s under China’s optimistic CLTC cycle — so maybe shave a few miles off in the real world. Combine the 33kWh battery with a full tank of fuel, however, and the total range balloons to over 621 miles. That’s Land Cruiser–beating endurance in theory, though we’ll need a real-world test to see if it delivers.

Inside? We’ll find out soon enough — the full interior reveal is pencilled in for 21 November. Expect lashings of leatherette, big screens, and more ambient lighting than a Shanghai nightclub.

Now for the kicker: price. In China, it starts at the equivalent of £27,000, which sounds laughably cheap for something with Defender aspirations. But once it crosses oceans and picks up taxes, shipping, and the usual “UK market adjustments,” it’ll likely land closer to the £50k+ mark. Still, if iCaur can maintain that spec-to-price ratio, Land Rover should start sweating.

And here’s the interesting bit: the V27’s platform is reportedly being evaluated for use in the upcoming Ineos Fusilier, suggesting that even the Brits are eyeing Chery’s engineering with interest. Not bad for a brand barely out of nappies.

With Chery, Omoda, and Jaecoo already gaining traction in the UK — the Jaecoo 7 even outsold the Nissan Qashqai last month — it’s clear that Chinese carmakers aren’t just knocking on the door anymore. They’re barging in, boots muddy and grins wide.

So when the iCaur V27 lands next year, expect more than raised eyebrows. Expect a proper showdown in the mud, the mountains, and maybe even the Waitrose car park.

Source: Autocar