Key highlights:
- Lepas targets niche buyers rather than chasing mainstream Australian car sales
- Bright colours and distinctive design form key parts of Lepas’ identity
- Chery accepts some internal sales will overlap across its growing brand portfolio
Lepas plans to enter Australia with a range of SUVs and a small hatchback, but Chery Motor Australia says the newcomer won’t directly compete with any established brand but wants to attract a more individualistic buyer who feels existing choices look too similar.
With more sub-brands scheduled to launch Down Under, Chery confirms inevitable sales overlap between its growing collection of brands. For now, the Chinese carmaker won’t put a sales number on Lepas and aims to find the niche and give those buyers another choice.
Lepas will make its first Australian public appearance at the Everything Electric show at Sydney Olympic Park from 18–20 September 2026 with its first model, the Lepas L6 mid-size electric SUV, and deliveries are due to begin in October 2026.
Lepas wants to stand apart
Lepas will bring small, medium and large SUVs, plus a small hatchback to Australia.
The brand will make its local debut with the Lepas L6 EV mid-size electric SUV in October 2026, whose design language takes inspiration from leopards, reflected in the L6 EV’s pronounced rear haunches and the LED daytime running lights across the range.
The name itself combines “leopard” and “passion”.
Chery’s global design director Steve Eum says the L6 EV also draws inspiration from porcelain, pebbles, waves, ballerinas and high-end fashion.
Chery Motor Australia chief operating officer Lucas Harris said, “I don’t think Lepas has any real comparable brands currently in the market.”
Harris describes the opportunity as a “huge white space” and says Lepas wants to give buyers an alternative to what he sees as an overly conservative Australian car market.
He expects the brand to appeal to people who want something more distinctive, including cars with brighter colours.
Lepas hasn’t revealed its Australian paint palette yet, but at a Sydney media event, the company displayed the L6 EV in a distinctive light purple, while its PHEV counterpart wore a lurid orange.
The larger L8 SUV appeared in matte grey, while the smaller L4 EV wore solid white in their pre-production versions.
Harris says the brighter shades will stay even if sales don’t match expectations.
“It’s part of the brand’s identity, right? So if people want beige, there’s lots of options for that. If they want bold and distinctive, that’s Lepas.”
Lepas will still compete within Chery Group
Lepas might not see a direct external rival, but several of its models will overlap with vehicles from its own parent group.
| Lepas model | Internal Chery Group competition |
|---|---|
| L6 EV | None as a mid-size EV |
| L6 PHEV | Chery Tiggo 7, Jaecoo J7 |
| L4 EV | Chery E5, Jaecoo J5 |
| L8 | Chery Tiggo 8 |
The Lepas L6 EV will give the Chery Group its first mid-size electric SUV in Australia, and its PHEV sibling will face the Chery Tiggo 7 and Jaecoo J7.
The L4 EV will compete with the Chery E5 and Jaecoo J5, while the L8 will overlap with the Chery Tiggo 8.
Harris is not worried about the competition and says customers can understand the differences between the brands if each one develops a clear identity.
He accepts that some buyers will overlap between the brands and that it is a good problem to have.
Also read: 2027 Chery E5 EV gets major equipment updates
Lepas isn’t a more premium Chery
Harris also rejected the idea that Lepas will sit above Chery or Omoda Jaecoo as a more premium brand and said the company wants to target a different type of customer.
Lepas calls these buyers “vibrant expressionists” and are describe as:
| Characteristic | Lepas target |
|---|---|
| Age | 25-59 |
| Location | Primarily metropolitan areas |
| Gender skew | 55% female |
| Personality | Individualistic, purposeful and choiceful |
The company wants buyers with refined but specific tastes, as Harris describes people who carefully choose what they wear, where they eat, where they live and what music they listen to.
Lepas doesn’t want to sell to everyone
Harris says, “So Lepas’ job is not to sell a car to every single home in Australia.”
The brand wants to serve a smaller group of buyers who currently have limited options, and that also means Chery doesn’t expect Lepas to match the sales volume of the core Chery brand.
Harris says his previous sales forecasts have always ended up wrong, so he prefers not to provide a number.
The company’s aim remains a niche audience rather than mass-market volume.
More Chery Group brands are coming
Lepas won’t be the last new Chery Group brand to arrive in Australia as the group plans to bring iCaur, Jetour and Freelander in 2027.
Those three brands will offer vehicles with a very different appearance from Lepas, which should help them target different buyers.
Design Director Steve Eum says Chery’s rapid expansion reflects the speed of China’s automotive industry and describes Chery as a highly fluid organisation that has already created and retired multiple brands.
“So, whether we have 10 or 20 brands, it really doesn’t matter. They’ll juggle.”
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