Lepas: New Chery sub-brand confirmed for Australia

Chery Australia has announced the introduction of yet another sub-brand: Lepas, which will arrive in 2026 targeting a younger and edgier audience than Chery, Jaecoo and Omoda.

Concrete details – model range, firm ETA, pricing, aftersales etc – are still thin on the ground for now, but Lepas Australia’s newly appointed COO, Lucas Harris, has come out swinging at the current state of the SUV market and how most options lack “personality”.

“Breaking away from the conventional, responsible-but-boring SUV category, Lepas introduces a new era of mobility, one that feels as good as it functions,” he said.

“From expressive design to vibrant colour palettes and driver-focused interiors, every detail of a Lepas SUV is built to inspire individuality and joy.

The first model likely to grace our shores is the L8 medium SUV which, predictably, shares a lot of its DNA with the Chery Tiggo 7 and 8 – while splitting the two on size.

The 2025 Lepas L8 was the first model to debut and enter production and will be followed by the smaller L6 compact (think Hyundai Kona, Mazda CX-30) and then the even smaller L4 (Mazda CX-3, Kia Stonic).

There’s been no indication on price just yet for any of the models, but we imagine the Lepas product will be positioned somewhere between the current Chery and Jaecoo ranges since they’ll leverage Chery bones for a funkier application.

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