Not content with two auto brands, Chery is lobbing another one into the crowded Australian market – and it’s got an odd name, to boot.
Lepas will launch here in 2026, and Chery says it’s pronounced ‘le pass‘ – and not like how you would say ‘lepers’ in an Australian accent. The name is a portmanteau of “leap” and “passion”.
Sharing its name with a genus of goose barnacles, Lepas is launching as an SUV brand for now, with plans to offer six different products.
The Chinese brand hasn’t confirmed what the local Lepas lineup will look like, though it has released images of the L8 which has an unusual name of its own.
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So, how does Lepas distinguish itself from the existing Chery and Omoda Jaecoo brands?
Announced earlier this year with the European market in mind, Lepas will offer “a new generation of bold, design-led SUVs that blend passion with practicality”.
“Australian SUV buyers have had practicality covered for years. What they’ve been missing is personality. Lepas delivers both,” said Lepas Australia chief operating officer Lucas Harris in a press release, a quote which on face value appears to suggest Chery’s own SUVs lack personality.
Expect more exciting colours and more youthful marketing in Australia compared to Chery and Omoda Jaecoo products, though it’s unclear how Lepas vehicles will be priced relative to their corporate cousins.
Omoda Jaecoo, notably, isn’t positioned as a premium brand here but rather as a slight step up over Chery, with its vehicles typically sold in different showrooms.
It’s unclear at this stage whether Lepas vehicles will share showroom space with other Chery brands.
Chery has announced little in the way of details around the new brand for our market, with pricing, specifications and availability to be announced closer to launch.
Per an April report from Automotive News Europe, Lepas will offer a choice of petrol, plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and electric powertrains, and is aimed at a younger buyer than the Chery or Omoda Jaecoo brands.
The plan is for Lepas to be offered in 27 markets globally this year, rising to 89 markets in 2027 and 500,000 annual sales in three years’ time.
Lepas has thus far revealed three models: the L4, L6 and L8. All feature smooth if unexciting exterior styling, with common design cues such as split-level front lighting and a full-width rear light bar.
All Lepas vehicles thus far also feature a portrait-oriented touchscreen infotainment system, and perhaps the most unique aspect of the brand’s vehicles are the funky colours they offer inside and out.
The brand’s debut product, the L8, shares its T1X platform with other Chery vehicles like the Chery Tiggo 8 and Jaecoo J7, and measures 4688mm long, 1860mm wide and 1695mm tall on a 2800mm wheelbase.
It’s set to offer a choice of petrol, PHEV and electric powertrains.
Lepas is another part of Chery’s convoluted export strategy. Every Omoda Jaecoo vehicle currently sold here, for example, is sold as a Chery in China.
The exception is the Omoda 9, which is actually an RX/Yaoguang from Chery’s Exeed brand that’s exported to only certain markets outside China.
Chery’s new electric vehicle (EV) brand iCar is set to be exported as a standalone brand, but a trademark issue will see it renamed to the incomprehensible iCaur in some markets… even though it’s sold as Aiqar in others.
Other brands under the Chery umbrella include Jetour, which is exported outside China, and Rely, which thus far isn’t.
The announcement of the Lepas brand for Australia comes just two years after Chery returned to Australia as a factory-backed operation.
It announced the Jaecoo brand in March 2024, and then at a launch event for its debut product in March 2025, it announced the Omoda brand.
It subsequently started referring to the two brands as being one and the same.
While Chery Australia’s communications boss Tim Krieger confirmed in May 2025 the local arm wasn’t expecting any other brands “in the short term” – saying it was too early to comment on Lepas – he left the door open for others to arrive.
“The clear message for us is: ‘You guys have got a big job on your hands certainly with Chery, certainly with Omoda Jaecoo. You guys do a good job with that, let’s see what else potentially could come.’” he told CarExpert.
“But everyone’s 100 per cent focused on those two brands at the moment, making the best of those opportunities.”
When asked about Exeed and Jetour, which already sell vehicles in markets like the Middle East, Omoda Jaecoo chief commercial officer Roy Muñoz said there were no immediate plans for these brands locally.
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