Chery's new Lepas brand won't rule out price cuts

Unlike recent trends from several Chinese manufacturers, Chery's new Lepas brand has launched with a more expensive 'premium' positioning, but cheaper models are on the way.

The only Lepas vehicle available at launch is the L6 electric SUV, available in one highly specified 'Signature' trim and priced at $47,990 before on-road costs.

That's more than the related top-spec Jaecoo J7, and the base version of the larger Jaecoo J8 once on-road costs are applied, as well as the top-spec Chery Tiggo 8 plug-in hybrid. It's also more than key rivals like the BYD Atto 3 and Geely EX5.

"There’s a plan for a sub-model, a ‘Classic’ version, but at the moment, we’re sticking to the single variant, and we’ll do that as hard as we can until it’s run its course and there’s a need for another one," Lepas Australia boss Brad Ryan told CarExpert at the brand's local launch.

Asked whether price cuts could come for the L6 Signature, Mr Ryan wouldn't rule anything out.

"Look, you never say never; nothing is fixed forever; the only constant is change. Pick your metaphor," he told CarExpert.

"We have no plans at the moment; we’re not even considering price changes."

Additionally, Mr Ryan acknowledged risks around depreciation and future resale values, particularly for electric vehicles (EVs), but remains confident despite the L6 EV's relatively high pricing.

"Obviously, it’s a challenge in the market at the moment; we see some of our competitors really struggling with it," he said.

"We don’t have a volume problem; we’re not going to have tens of thousands of them every month coming through needing to be resold, so at this stage, I don’t see it being as much of an issue."

Mr Ryan added that Lepas was considering guaranteed future value (GFV) plans in the near future, but reinforced that the brand isn't "far enough down the track" to give an indication on the brand's potential resale values.

As for other aftersales support, the brand expects strong capacity. Lepas has already outlined that its vehicles will be sold in standalone dealerships, but it'll still leverage the established Chery network behind the scenes.

Chery Australia COO Lucas Harris outlined that Lepas was subject to its parent brand's "minimum standard" for vehicle parts supply, ensuring even the earliest adopters were catered for.

"Before we launch product, 95 or 96 per cent of the bill of materials for that model must be landed and in stock within the country. That’s our basic standard," he told CarExpert.

"Some parts we’re going to have multiples of, like front bumpers, and then other obscure parts that we don’t expect to replace [often], we might only have one or two. But the idea is to try and have that bill of materials fully covered, which is quite unusual.

"A lot of brands, even established ones, are unlikely to cover that much of the bill of materials, but we recognise that it’s quite important to give people confidence that if an issue occurs, they can get it resolved quickly. Having those parts is a big part of that."

Asked whether he was comfortable with the parts supply for Lepas vehicles at launch, Mr Harris said "extremely".

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