Lepas cars New Lepas Cars, Prices & Reviews

About Lepas cars

Lepas is a new brand from Chery International, the same Chinese car giant behind Omoda, Jaecoo and Chery UK. It is the fourth Chery-backed brand to launch in Britain, following the rapid growth of Omoda and Jaecoo in the UK market.

The name Lepas is a mix of ‘leopard’ and ‘passion’, which explains why the brand makes such a big deal of its leopard-inspired styling. Its cars are designed to look a bit sleeker and more premium than regular Chery models, while still using familiar Chery technology underneath.

The first Lepas model to come to the UK is the L8, a large five-seat plug-in hybrid SUV. It uses a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine, an electric motor and an 18.4kWh battery, giving it up to 56 miles of electric-only range and a combined range of up to 745 miles.

The L8 will be followed by the L6 mid-size SUV and the smaller L4 SUV, so Lepas looks set to become an SUV-only brand in the UK for the time being. All models will be electrified, with hybrid, plug-in hybrid or fully electric power.

Lepas looks like yet another new Chinese car brand trying to tempt family SUV buyers away from established alternatives, but at least the pricing is keen. The L8 starts from less than £35,000, which makes it look like decent value for a large, well-equipped plug-in hybrid SUV.