Lepas will become the third new sister brand under the Chery umbrella in Australia – and it almost certainly won’t be the last – when it launches locally in the middle of 2026.
It follows in the wheel tracks of the Jaecoo and Omoda brands that have been established Down Under over the last 12 months, which offer a range of SUVs based on mainstream Chery models but featuring unique exterior and interior design treatments.
Lepas will be no different in terms of its model range, launching with the L8 medium-large SUV that shares its underpinnings with the Chery Tiggo 7, Jaecoo J7 and Omoda 7.
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But it plans to create its own premium identity with a unique showroom experience that could allow potential buyers to buy clothes and accessories in the same place as part of collaborations with fashion houses and designers.
“We are planning to create a different space from the traditional showroom [for Lepas],” Lepas brand and marketing director Nick Xuan told CarExpert during an exclusive interview at Chery’s headquarters in China last week.
“We want to incorporate with some fashion [designers] or elegant brands. If we have this kind of environment, we also want to make it an experience centre that is very close to the consumer with products that we think will be in their life.”
“I think that for the Lepas brand, we are focusing on the consumers and their pursuit for elegant life and a very comfortable drive experience. Maybe not very extreme in terms of performance, like we have unlimited power or something like 0-100km/h in three seconds.
“That is not our target, but we hope that that customer could experience and drive it in a very comfortable and elegant style, and also the space could give the drivers more confidence.”
Mr Xuan says Lepas is designed to have a distinct European feel about it, positioning it above the mainstream Chery brand but alongside Jaecoo and Omoda, which are designed to appeal to outdoor adventurers and tech-savvy buyers respectively.
It says it will achieve this with a brighter palette of exterior paint colour choices and two-tone interior configurations.
The L8 is aimed at semi-premium SUVs such as the Mazda CX-60, Volkswagen Tiguan, Peugeot 3008, and Skoda Karoq.
However, despite being a five-seater, it is slighter bigger than many of its competitors, measuring 4688mm long and riding on a 2800mm wheelbase, and riding on the same T1X platform as the seven-seat Tiggo 9.
Under the bonnet, the L8 is powered by a plug-in hybrid powertrain which pairs a 105kW 1.5-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine with a single-speed dedicated hybrid transmission that drives the front wheels and incorporates a 150kW electric motor.
With a 18.3kWh lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery pack, the Lepas L8 is likely to match the Tiggo 7’s claimed average fuel consumption of 1.4L/100km and 93km electric-only driving range (on the NEDC cycle).
Pricing and final specifications for the Lepas L8 in Australia have yet to be locked down, but expect a long list of standard equipment as well as a comprehensive suite of active safety functions and driver aids.
The L8 will be joined in showrooms before the end of 2026 by two other models, the compact L4 (based on the Chery Tiggo 4) and the mid-size L6 (based on the Tiggo 7).
Mr Xuan also confirmed the range will be joined by additional bookends in the Lepas 2 – a fully electric compact SUV – and the full-size seven-seat Lepas 9, and there’s potential to also add a luxury four-door sedan down the track.
“In the future, I think in our plan we will have different products including SUV and sedan,” he told CarExpert.
MORE: How Chery’s many brands fit together – and why more could come