The Australian automotive trade has modified dramatically over the past 5 years, with dozens of all-new fashions hitting our roads and new model names popping up on automobile dealerships throughout the nation.
With just a few exceptions – together with the belated arrival of Cadillac and the Volkswagen Group’s Cupra model from Spain – most of those new entrants are formidable Chinese language manufacturers searching for a slice of our suburban driveways.
Not surprisingly, there’s extra nonetheless to come back, together with one other model beneath the Chery umbrella, Lepas, which is ready to affix fellow manufacturers Chery and Omoda Jaecoo later this 12 months with a variety of (you guessed it) family-friendly SUVs.
However on this unique Knowledgeable Insights interview, Chery Motor Australia Chief Working Officer and Managing Director Lucas Harris says Lepas will carry a uniquely vibrant and playful character that can problem perceptions and probably appeal to a brand new, extra inner-city group of shoppers.
And it might want to, as a result of Lepas and Omoda Jaecoo will even be joined within the Chery secure by the Jetour model by the tip of this 12 months, and the Freelander and iCaur manufacturers in 2027.
From an Australian viewpoint, what’s Lepas, how is it totally different to the group’s different manufacturers – Chery, Jaecoo and Omoda – and the place does it slot in throughout the group?
I feel if I needed to sum it up in a single phrase, refined is the reply I would give. It’s much more refined product.
All the [Lepas] fashions that can launch over the subsequent 12 to 18 months are all on completely new platforms, that are distinctive to Lepas. Whereas there’s clearly shared expertise throughout the totally different manufacturers, the platforms themselves are distinctive to Lepas, and that actually interprets by to driving expertise.
The driving expertise is much more refined, each from a dynamic dealing with viewpoint, but in addition how quiet the cabin is, the graceful energy supply of the battery-electric powertrain, and all these types of belongings you’d count on.
Having stated that, Lepas can be much more playful and much more unbiased considering than the opposite manufacturers we’ve got. We form of discuss it internally because the SUV for non-SUV folks. It’s kind of extra enjoyable and a bit extra fascinating, a bit bolder in its design and, as you’ll see, the color palette is all vibrant colors.
We will even specific that in our advertising and marketing actions and supplies, and the way in which that we present up will likely be directed in the direction of prospects that take into account themselves extra individualistic. It is these vibrant expressionists.
Would you name them trendsetters?
Yeah, and possibly they’re the kind of prospects that do not need an SUV as a result of you already know SUVs are usually a bit form of bland, however they do not have a alternative as a result of they have younger households they usually want the practicality of an SUV.
So, we wish to give them one thing which I imagine does not really exist out there. I feel there’s fairly a big white area for one thing that’s daring and enjoyable and fascinating, but in addition offers you that practicality that, whether or not you prefer it or not, it’s a must to have.
Are you saying the SUV has already changed into the station wagon and develop into a bit daggy?
Yeah. However not in each sense.
Initially, station wagons are fairly uncommon beasts as of late and I do not wish to say that every one SUVs are boring, however they’re a bit bland.
You already know that there is only a few choices on the market which are fascinating or a bit thrilling or a bit totally different. And, in equity, to the to the market, what number of other ways are you able to draw a medium sized SUV, proper?
So, that is the place I feel we have actually tried to stretch the envelope with Lepas a little bit bit, by making the design extra fascinating and having the model present up in a method that’s extra vibrant and extra vibrant.
Now, we all know that is not going to be everybody’s cup of tea, proper? And that is by design. We have got different manufacturers to fulfill folks which are in search of one thing extra conservative.
Lepas is making an attempt to seize part of the market which is in a little bit of a white area, and speak to folks that are not actually being spoken to by anybody. So that is the intent behind it.
Do you take into account Lepas a premium model positioned above Chery, Jaecoo and Omoda? The place does it slot in throughout the household of manufacturers you have already got in Australia?
If we discuss our quantity throughout all of the manufacturers that we’ll have in market, our considering will not be like the normal OEM mannequin the place they stack them on prime of one another: This one’s entry-level, and this one’s barely higher, and this one’s barely extra premium. That is not how we separate and phase our manufacturers.
It is not about premium-ness both, and I feel our shoppers are extra clever than that and may see by these fashions which are positioned as dearer in order that they count on extra for his or her cash.
Our model positioning is extra horizontal, the place one model is focused at a selected model of buyer who’s in search of one thing distinctive. So, it isn’t about premium positioning stacking on prime. It is extra about model picture and the way in which the model reveals up and the way the model is designed and what group of shoppers does that speak to. We’d be foolish to assume that every one prospects match into one in every of 4 classes, proper?
You are going to have some folks that can match squarely into one, however you are going to get a little bit little bit of crossover the place, you already know, possibly 20 per cent of the purchasers additionally form of just like the look of that one as properly, and that is wonderful.
Our objective is to try to broaden the attraction of all of our manufacturers throughout all shoppers.
I feel Lepas is a lacking half for us in the intervening time. That white area of vibrant expressionists or individuals who don’t desire an SUV however do not have a alternative. No one is speaking to them in the intervening time.
So that you’re assured Lepas will not cannibalise or detract from any of the Chery group’s different manufacturers or mannequin strains already established right here?
No, I do not assume it is going to and, like I stated, you are going to have prospects that match into this sphere wholly, and others that possibly straddle into the Omoda Jaecoo sphere.
And if this sphere is sufficient to carry them in to have a look at one model however they decide to buy one in every of our different manufacturers, really that is additionally okay as a result of possibly the opposite model by itself wasn’t sufficient to carry them in within the first place, proper?
It is actually about making an attempt to extend our total attractiveness to get folks to place us on the buying listing within the first place. So, introducing a model that talks to totally different prospects really simply will increase the general presence, reasonably than solely taking from an current one.
Inform us concerning the mannequin lineup that Lepas will begin with, and the way will that stretch over time?
We’ll launch into the native market with the L6, which is a mid-size battery-electric SUV. And there are solely about three [sub-$60,000) medium-sized battery-electric SUV options from volume brands.
So, I think there’s a really huge opportunity there, and we’ll launch with that model first in the last quarter of 2026, closely followed by the L4, which is the smaller SUV and will also be fully electric.
Quite frankly, I think they’re the most attractive models in the lineup. To be honest with you, the front-end design is quite different.
And then as we start to get into the early parts of next year, we’ll have plug-in and hybrid options as well.
Further down the track, towards the end of next year, we’ll have a small hatchback option, which is a really great looking car. I was at the factory a few weeks ago and saw the early pre-production model, and was really excited. I think it’s a really good, really attractive, sporty-looking little car. So, I think that would be excellent.
Is that a light (B-segment) hatch or a small (C-segment) hatch like a Mazda 3?
It’s more Mazda 3 size. And definitely a hatchback, unmistakably. So, I’m really excited for that.
I think that can answer a lot of questions in the market at the moment.
And then, lastly, we’ll also have an extra-large SUV as well. So, by the end of next year, at this stage the plan is five models with split powertrain options of both battery-electric and plug-in hybrid.
Was it a strategic decision to launch purely with the battery-electric models first?
It’s partly appealing to those kinds of target customers that are mostly urban living, so obviously that is a very suitable environment for BEV.
It’s a mixture of that, and there’s not many options in the market in that segment, so I think that’s a quite compelling reason to bring something in to have a good boost straight out of the gates.
How will the Lepas retail experience differ from your other brands, and will it share showroom space with Chery and Omoda Jaecoo?
No, not always. There are some instances where they might be next door, but there’s also going to be independent dealers. It’s a totally independent network and independent franchise.
Obviously, there are only so many dealer groups and dealer operators in the country, so naturally there’s going to be some overlap and, frankly speaking, the feedback we get from our existing dealer partners for other brands is quite positive. Maybe they’re just being kind, but they are quite complimentary of how we’re operating, and they like working with us. So, naturally, there’s a high amount of interest when we’ve got a new brand and a new franchise.
But it’s still assessed on a case-by-case basis, whether the facility that they are able to provide is suitable, and is going to meet the requirements for the brand. Is the area that they want to put it in the right area? Are we going to be able to reach the right customers and all those sorts of things.
So, the short answer is yes; sometimes it will be next door to our other brands, but that’s the nature of the beast in the market.
And you know, retail footprints are hard at the moment, and there’s not a lot of empty freestanding space. But not exclusively so.
Are you looking at any other opportunities like pop-ups or things like that to expose the brand into more urban areas?
Yeah, it’s interesting. In our experience, those sort of shopping centre-orientated pop-ups can be a bit hit-and-miss: When they work well, they really work well, or they just don’t work at all.
There’s kind of no in between, so we’re going through an exercise trying to identify which areas is it that they actually work well in.
Customers still want to test drive cars, and they still want the ease of being able to get in and out of the dealership and those sorts of things. So it’s tricky and I don’t think those style of arrangements work as well here as they do overseas.
To be honest with you, the shopping centres that have the high foot traffic that you actually want to be in, the cost is enormous, so it quite quickly becomes not really viable.
So how will you separate Lepas from the other brands in terms of the look an feel of the dealerships?
I’m not sure if we’ll go as far as the leopard-print wall coverings, but we laugh because it’s been proposed.
The interesting thing about the showroom mix is balancing all the brands, but also giving each of them their own identity. There’s still this kind of – even in our own people and in the dealers – naturally conservative lean, and so everyone wants to be doing something normal.
For me, it’s been an interesting exercise to get people to think differently and open their minds a little bit.
But the showroom design, certainly from the exterior, is quite different from our existing brands. But I think the most important part is inside the showroom. So, a big part of what we’re looking at the minute is how we fit-out the facilities and merchandising.
How do we want to present the product inside the showroom? What do we want that experience to be like for customers? Is there going to be a signature scent inside the showroom? Is there a signature playlist that’s inside the showrooms?
I really don’t like the sort of old-fashioned point of sale ethos, with very clinical and almost hospital-esque type showrooms. So, we are looking at how do we bring that to life a little bit more.
Will we see that same ‘outside the square’ thinking in terms of your marketing plans? Are you looking at anything unique to make Lepas stand out from the crowd?
Yeah, but I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag too much. There’s some interesting ideas that have gone around at the minute which are quite bold by nature.
To be honest with you, some of the ideas may make a lot of people feel really uncomfortable inside the business because it is so different and so out there. But that’s what we want, right? We know we’re doing the right thing if all of us boring conservative car people are going ‘oh, I’m not sure about that’. Well, that’s probably the right thing then.
So, watch this space. There’s some really wacky stuff that I’m hoping we can we can deliver.
Are there any collaborations with fashion, music or influencers, or anything like that planned to make Lepas different to your other brands?
Absolutely, but none that we could name at the moment. But the music thing is a good pick-up from you because that seems to be where a lot of those vibrant expressionists live. So naturally, we’re looking in that space, not only for potential influencer partners that we can work with, but also organisations that are around that we’re talking to at the moment. So yeah, there’s a few things bubbling away that we’re getting pretty close to being able to announce.
Part of the reason for choosing that customer subset is I think they actually consume their media a little bit different from how other people consume their media. So, it’s going on the journey of making sure that we understand that really well.
It’s going to be a bit of trial and error because it’s a huge departure away from what we know with our other brands, and even for most of our team. A lot of them have worked for other brands in the industry, so yeah it is going to be a bit of exploration, which is quite exciting and makes the job a bit fun.
Hopefully they survive the corporate bureaucracy.
What have you done – or are currently doing – in terms of Australian testing or pre-launch localisation for the L6 before it arrives in showrooms?
It’s our usual way now, where we have cars here for months on end before launch, and the main focus is obviously around electronic systems and making sure that those are as seamless as possible. So, there’s been extensive testing, particularly ADAS [Advanced Driver-Assist Systems] is a large one for each model, proper?
With L6, I feel it’s notably good in that area. Additionally, the Lepas platform has had a number of involvement from our German R&D centre, so there’s much more European-style dynamic dealing with in that automobile, which has been nice to check in native situations. I feel you’ll instantly recognise the additional stage of refinement in that new platform in its street method and the way it behaves.
I might go as far to say that, for my part, I feel it is the very best dealing with and performing automobile that we have throughout the group, which is smart as a result of it is the most recent.
So does L6 have a dynamic character that will likely be distinctive to Lepas in comparison with Chery, Omoda and Jaecoo?
Completely… at the least till such time as the opposite manufacturers have a generational platform replace. In the intervening time, Lepas is on a novel platform, and as these different manufacturers develop over time, naturally their platforms will develop. However, in the intervening time, Lepas is blessed with having a novel platform, which is nice.
Lastly, you’ve talked about creating a novel shopping for expertise for Lepas prospects, however are you additionally taking a look at something totally different from an possession perspective?
No, I feel from an aftersales perspective, throughout our group and irrespective of name, our strategy is similar, which is that we’re there standing behind the product, and that is in all probability the one factor that’s going to be constant throughout all of our manufacturers. As a result of frankly, what is the various?
Now we have to be there behind the product. Now we have to ensure that we have the elements in place. Now we have to ensure that we have the community standing behind us. Now we have to all have that perspective.
The fact is, to be completely trustworthy with you, proper now we’re preventing each single sale as a conquest that we’re taking from another person. I actually wish to get to the purpose the place repeat prospects could make up a 3rd or extra of our quantity as a result of they appreciated the automobile and it did every part that it was purported to do.
And, if or once they had a difficulty, we handled it the proper method, and we handled them pretty or higher than pretty. And the shopper felt like we did the proper factor and we have been trustworthy and good to take care of. After which they purchase one other one. That that is our mission.
We do not wish to be preventing for each single sale endlessly. We have to earn the proper to have repeat prospects.
