Fresh Chinese BYD Sealion 6, Geely Starray, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV challenger: Lepas L8 2026 Australian release confirmed

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Chinese carmaker Chery has confirmed it will debut its latest sub-brand, known as Lepas, into the Australian market next year. 

A portmanteau of the words ‘leap’ and ‘passion’, Lepas (presumably pronounced “Leap-pass”) will become Chery’s fourth sub-brand actively trading in Australia, following behind Chery Australia, Omoda, and Jaecoo.

Other Chery sub-brands in contention for Australia include iCaur (known as iCar in China), a lifestyle offroad EV brand, and Jetour, which fills a similar niche. 

Lepas has so far confirmed just one flagship model for its local debut, known as the Lepas L8. It appears to be a rival to the BYD Sealion 6 and Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, presenting as slightly larger than midsize but still a five-seater. Not unlike its Omoda 9 stablemate. 

Offering just five seats also opens the L8 to ‘true midsize’ rivals such as the Geely Starray and MG HS ‘Super Hybrid’.

Lepas is hunting a younger, style conscious demographic, and the L8 therefore has sharp, sporty styling, bright colours and a light-coloured interior. In overseas markets, Lepas describes its design language as “Leopard Aesthetic”. 

Inside, the L8 features perforated leather, vinyl, brushed-finish metal speaker grilles, a digital instrument cluster — likely 10.25-inches — and a portrait orientation infotainment screen, likely 13.2-inch or 14.8-inches, and borrowed from the Jaecoo J7. 

No technical details or measurements have yet been confirmed for the L8, which could be on sale in as little as four months. Initial press images indicate that the vehicle is a plug-in hybrid, presenting dual fuel doors and a large front grille presumably for ICE engine cooling. 

That would mean the L8 is likely to be based upon the Chery Tiggo 8 plug-in, which measures 4720mm long, 1862mm wide, 1705mm tall, and runs on a 2710mm wheelbase. 

Weight should be in the realm of 1884kg (tare). 

Under the bonnet, Chery may use its tried and tested PHEV powertrain, which combines a 105kW / 215Nm 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine, and 18.4kWh LFP battery with a 150kW / 310Nm electric motor to power the front wheels.

In the Tiggo 8 PHEV, this hybrid system delivers an electric-only driving range of 95km, combined range of 1200km, and combined fuel consumption of 1.3L/100km. All figures shown are NEDC testing standards. 

While unconfirmed, we expect Lepas to soon bolster its L8 offering with the announcement of its L6 small SUV and L4 compact SUV. More details for those should soon come to light for global markets. 

The Australian debut of Lepas, which came into existence just five months ago, is a curious one. Chery already has several highly similar products to the L8, and it remains to be seen how the L8 will differentiate from models such as the Jaecoo J7, Chery Tiggo 8 and Omoda 9 PHEVs.

Chery already has a strong proposition of value through its main namesake, offering several combustion and hybrid SUVs including the Tiggo 4 small SUV, currently Australia’s cheapest SUV, and Tiggo 7 SHS, Australia’s cheapest PHEV. 

It additionally has an array of premium mid-size SUVs, including the Jaecoo J7, Jaecoo J8, Chery C5 and Omoda 9. We are eager to see how the L8 fits into this crowded space.