Chinese car maker Chery has confirmed it will bring its new Lepas brand to the UK later this year, having already launched Omoda, Jaecoo and the Chery brand itself here in the past two years.
Conceived for the European market – with a name that's said to be a portmanteau of ‘leopard’, ‘leap’ and ‘passion’ – Chery's fourth UK-bound brand will offer a range of 'new energy vehicles' – a Chinese term for plug-in hybrids and electric cars.
Lepas said it will detail its first UK car in the coming weeks, but Autocar has previously reported that it will offer its L4 and L6 crossovers here with combustion, plug-in hybrid and battery-electric powertrains. Both are based on the same T1X modular platform as the Omoda 5, Jaecoo 5 and Jaecoo 7.
Their soft-edged designs, meanwhile, draw on those of Chery’s Tiggo models and established European players, such as Audi.
Chery’s management is aware of the potential cannibalisation between its various marques: at last year’s launch of Lepas, Chery International president Zhang Guibing presented a slide titled: 'Too many brands?'
While Jaecoo and Omoda models are clearly different in their design, Lepas’s cars bear a strong resemblance to the existing Chery Tiggos. This will be resolved with a new direction for the Tiggos, which will give them a chunkier look targeted at traditional family buyers. Omoda, meanwhile, will become more aggressive, with more polygonal styling introduced on its forthcoming 3 crossover.
“By offering different brands on the same platform, the volume is very big and that gives us a good price,” said Zhang.
The move to launch a fourth brand bolsters Chery’s ambition to establish itself as a mainstay in the UK, where it has quickly become a key market player.
Last year, Omoda, Jaecoo and Chery took a combined 2.65% share of the UK's new car market, putting the company ahead of Mini (2.34%) and Tesla (2.25%), as well as compatriot rival BYD (2.54%).
The arrival of Lepas, along with the expansion of its other brands’ line-ups, has the potential to put it within touching distance of giants such as Renault (3.24%), Skoda (4.12%) and Kia (5.62%).
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Even if you discount the fact that there must already be enough choice of Chinese crossover/SUVs completing in the same market - along with endless European, Japanese and Korean models - I wonder how the importers are going to be able to find enough dealers and build a sustainable network. There was a time, not long ago, when manufacturers wanted their franchisees to only sell their brand but the floodgates now seem open to multi marque sites. I guess Ford and others who have fast been loosing market share have had to relent but the German brands and Toyota/Lexus don't appear to be opening their showrooms to infiltrators. At some stage there will be a big cull of the also rans. Best only buy new on a lease or PCP so the finance company takes away the problem.
That is a seriously poorly proportioned car in an absolutely hideous colour.
Seems there's a new car fro: China nearly every month and we don't see a problem with that.