"Zero" risk of confusion between Chery's many brands, says exec

Chery is in the midst of an onslaught of additional brands for Australia, with the arrival of the Lepas brand bringing a new electric SUV that promises unique styling with a more premium orientation.

Lepas is one of eight brands that the Chery Automobile group will have on the Australian market by 2028, but despite the inevitable shared componentry between each incoming model, Lepas Australia head Brad Ryan doesn't expect the overlap to be a problem.

“I think there will be some overlap; it’s unavoidable. We also think that the overlap will be relatively minor," he told CarExpert at the local launch of the Lepas L6 electric vehicle (EV).

"In one direction, we’ve got a bit of Chery overlap; in another way, we’ve got Omoda Jaecoo overlap. The intention is for us to compete for those customers legitimately in the open market."

Lepas is either the third or fourth Chery group brand introduced to Australia, depending on who you ask. It follows Chery, Jaecoo, and Omoda, though the group combines the latter two into one – there are both Jaecoo-badged and Omoda-badged vehicles, but they're all sold through combined Omoda Jaecoo showrooms.

Remarkably, five Chery brands are still to come before 2028 – Exlantix, Freelander, iCaur, Jetour, and Luxeed. It's not yet clear how each brand will operate once it arrives in Australia, though Freelander and iCaur have both announced plans for separate dealer networks.

In the meantime, the premium-leaning Lepas brand seeks to cement its foothold in the Australian market with a standalone dealer network, a move that Chery Motor Australia COO Lucas Harris says will eventually help establish clear distinctions between each Chery brand.

“What you’re going to notice over time across the whole group is an even further departure from one another from an aesthetic point of view," he told CarExpert.

"So the future Lepas product, which is not that far in the future – frankly, it’s right around the corner, is a very different design aesthetic to any of the other group products.

"You’ll notice that happen across Chery and Omoda Jaecoo brands as well, where each brand’s product is going to get further and further and further away from each other, not only from a design perspective, but also from a function and performance perspective."

Lepas has provided a provisional timeline of vehicles that'll arrive in Australia between now and 2028.

That "different design aesthetic" will arrive with the as-yet-unrevealed L2 hatchback in 2028, said to be a 'halo' vehicle for Lepas with aggressive angular styling currently not seen anywhere in the mainstream Chery group portfolio.

Before then, the L6 EV will be joined by the L4 EV in the first half of 2027, followed later in the year by the L6 plug-in hybrid (PHEV).

When asked about any perceived risk of confusion between individual Chery group vehicles before that claimed separation takes full effect, Mr Harris bluntly replied: "Zero".

"It’s not that confusing, and I think the general public are quite intelligent and [it’s] easy for them to determine the difference between the brands," he told CarExpert.

Particularly in the case of Lepas, Mr Harris further emphasised its 'uniqueness' by outlining that the L6 uses a new, Lepas-specific "LEXP" platform.

However, every Lepas vehicle revealed thus far is either currently sold in China as a Chery, or there are plans for this.

The L6 for example is already sold as the Chery Fulwin T7, which is claimed to use Chery's established T1X platform.

Additionally, the incoming Lepas L4 is set to be sold in China as the Chery Tiggo 5, and the incoming Lepas L8 looks to be a rebadged version of the new-generation Chery Tiggo 8 sold there, with strong cosmetic similarities to the aforementioned Lepas L6 PHEV.

The Lepas brand isn't sold in China. Neither, for that matter, is Omoda Jaecoo.

"Lepas is blessed with being the first product family in the group to have its own unique platform, but it won’t be the only one forever. As time goes on, those other brands will also develop more unique platforms, unique style and design," he told CarExpert.

"I can appreciate that you can’t see that right now, but it will be abundantly obvious to you in the not-so-distant future as we see those changes come in."

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