Sportier L2 to stretch the Lepas range

Chery’s design boss has given the first indication of where the Lepas L2 will sit, describing it as considerably sportier than the L6 shown at the brand’s local preview.

Steve Eum, the company’s vice president and general manager of design, was speaking to us following that preview, ahead of Lepas arriving in New Zealand shortly. He tells us the L2 is part of a deliberate widening of the brand rather than a change of direction.

“Eventually you’ll get to see this vehicle called the L2, which is of course a lot sportier than what you saw yesterday, than our L6,” Eum says.

“We want to broaden our portfolio and our bookends in terms of offering more for the Lepas brand, but keeping it still premium, keeping it still a luxury.”

The L2 has been on Chery’s published plan for some time, alongside L1 and L3 models below the current L4, L6 and L8 range, and a full-size L9 above it. Australian reporting last week put the L2 as a Corolla-sized model due there before 2028. Eum’s comment is the first steer on how it will be positioned within the range.

Asked whether a brand named for a leopard should be building a sports car, Eum said the business case did not support one. Lepas, he says, is leopard and passion, and the design language leans on the animal, from the gaze in the L6’s front end to the fender contours down the flanks.

“Every designer who puts a pen down on paper wants that sports car,” he says. “But it’s all about usage and practicality. Yes, we could drive that for maybe five minutes and enjoy it, but at the end of the day we like the practicality of having a boot, having the space, carrying your family, carrying your kids safely. That’s more important to us.”

Eum also confirmed more three row SUVs and utes are in development across the Chery group, without saying which brands they will be sold under.

“We do have three row SUVs, three row or two row, and utes, all coming up, all different variations,” he says. “I just can’t tell you what brand, which model.”