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Lepas L8: coming in Q3 2026 – a slightly more premium Chery

By Curtis Moldrich

Published: Today 10:36

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  Lepas L8 front

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  Lepas L8 side

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  Lepas L8 interior front

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  Lepas L8 rear passengers

► First Lepas coming to the UK
► Follows Jaecoo, Omoda and Chery
► Slightly more premium version of the latter

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Chery’s plan to saturate the UK car market with brands continues – it seems to be working so you can’t blame it. With that in mind, it’s now revealed more details about Lepas; the latest brand it’s set to launch in the UK. It follows Jaecoo, Omoda and Chery but promises to have an even ‘bolder’ identity than those before that’s much ‘more imaginative,’ that the rest. 

Anyway, the first car has arrived and it’s called the L8. It’ll be available to buy in the UK from Q3 of 2026 – but it bears a very striking resemblance to Chery’s own Tiggo 8. Chery/Lepas has followed this tactic in other markets such as Malaysia, and it looks to be doing the same in the UK too.

What’s the car like? 

Well, it’s like a slightly better-looking, more premium version of the Cherry Tiggo 8 – at least if these pictures are anything to go by. However, Lepas says the styling inspiration doesn’t come from another very affordable SUV sold by Chery, but from the ‘agile, muscular contours of a running leopard’. The headlights for example, have been tweaked to emulate a leopard’s eyes. Obviously.

Inside you get room for five, with rear passengers getting 970mm of legroom. That’s two seats fewer than the Tiggo 8 for a more luxurious, spacious experience. 

Underneath all of that, you’ll find Chery’s NEV or New Energy Vehicle modular platform. There’s no news yet or details or specs but expect the L8 to use plug-in hybrid power when it does arrive in late 2026. Figures on Lepas’s international site put EV-only range at 67 miles, with total range of a tank at 808 miles – but those are just estimates until we get UK figures. 

Price-wise, expect something a little more than the Tiggo 8’s sub-£30,000 starting price, as Lepas looks to carve a snug space for itself immediately above Chery.