Chery Australia says the company’s growing family of brands, including Chery, Omoda Jaecoo and, soon, Lepas — are designed to reach different types of buyers rather than sit on a traditional premium ladder. And he isn’t ruling out more badges joining the local mix in future.
The company’s chief operating officer, Lucas Harris, told CarExpert that, unlike for example European and Japanese automakers that organise brands vertically by price or prestige, Chery’s approach is horizontal, each marque targeting a distinct lifestyle or personality type rather than a higher or lower tier.
“In Western markets, brand hierarchy is very vertical — this one’s entry-level, this one’s volume, this one’s premium, this one’s luxury,” Mr Harris said. “My observation of what we see in Chinese brands… is it’s much more horizontal.”
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He explained that Chery itself caters to mainstream family buyers looking for something traditional and easy to live with.
“Chery is very much a more traditionally focused family car… they don’t want the fuss; it’s good, solid value,” he said.
Jaecoo, in contrast, adopts a tougher, urban-off-road theme while maintaining its refinement. Omoda skews toward design and fashion, appealing to style-driven customers who want something sportier and more expressive. These two brands are twinned in markets like Australia, where they’re sold in the same showrooms.
Lepas, expected to arrive early next year, will be the boldest of the group, focusing on distinctive shapes, bright colours, and creative interiors.
“Lepas is much more distinctive and bold… very bright colours and different coloured interiors, really to try and attract people that want to stand out,” Mr Harris said.
Mr Harris added that the overlap between brands is intentional at the edges, with each one potentially acting as a gateway to the others.
“If a Lepas attracts the sort of customer who never would have looked at Chery, but they get there and go, ‘Actually, that Chery is for me,’ or vice versa — okay, it worked,” he said.
While the local lineup is already expanding quickly, Mr Harris hasn’t closed the door on further additions if the Chinese headquarters decides to introduce more marques from its portfolio.
“Part of being in a global company is that there will be global decisions that, whether we totally understand them or totally agree with them, sometimes is not relevant,” he said. “If the factory decides tomorrow that another brand is coming, okay — no problem, we’ll find a way to make that as successful as we can.”
And there’s a bevy of brands under the Chery umbrella, including Exeed, a more premium brand; Luxeed, another such brand and one created in collaboration with Huawei; Jetour, which specialises in off-roaders; electric vehicle brand iCar (aka iCaur); and commercial vehicle brands Karry and Rely.
For now, Mr Harris says the focus remains on helping Australians understand how the brands differ, while ensuring each has the right product, design language, and retail identity to connect with its intended audience.
MORE: Chery launching its third auto brand in Australia in four years
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