The Chery Group should give itself a pat on the back. The company relaunched in South Africa in 2021, and it has come a long way in the five years since then. The company is now a well-recognised car brand in the country and is arguably the most successful Chinese car manufacturer operating in South Africa at the time of writing.
That's not all, though. Chery has also successfully introduced other brands locally under its group, with some of these manufacturers achieving positive sales. Moreover, the group has also recently taken over Nissan's Rosslyn plant with plans to produce its own cars in South Africa. The success since relaunch is impressive.
Part of what makes Chery such a formidable force here currently is its ability to do what most Chinese car brands set out to do when expanding abroad, which is to take the fight to where it matters. Chery, across its brands, has cars in segments where new vehicles are mostly sought after, such as SUVs and compact crossovers.
The OEM was able to do this by using a multi-company approach strategy. By now, you are familiar with the names Omoda, Jaecoo, and Jetour, all of which are part of this Chery strategy. Earlier in the year, another Chery brand arrived in South Africa after an international debut in 2025, and this is Lepas. The Lepas brand is here to play the same part in Chery's overarching group strategy as its other siblings.
Chery says the word Lepas is a blend of 'leopard aesthetics', and it uses this terminology as a basis to design the exterior of its cars. At the moment, the only model of Lepas available locally is the L4, a compact crossover. A bigger L6 is promised to arrive soon, however
The Lepas L4 comes in three flavours, starting from base to range-topping: the Amur at R299,900, the Javan at R369,900, and the Pantera at R419,900.
On test, I had the Pantera derivative. I went into it not knowing much about Lepas, admittedly, making the experience entirely new. However, within a minute of driving it, I could tell the Lepas L4 is just another Chery car under the surface with a different exterior. It turns out that the L4 shares its chassis and suspension with the Jaecoo J5 and the Chery Tiggo Cross.
The sharing of the same platform is not a novel idea, and it's done as a cost-saving measure by OEMs. My worry here, however, is what I noticed with the J5 and Tiggo Cross, which is the throttle calibration not being the smoothest. The L4 does have that same unsmooth transition from a stationary position to mobility. It must be said, though, that its six-speed dual-clutch transmission makes up for it with decent cog swaps.
Not only that, under the bonnet is Chery's familiar 1.5L turbo petrol engine, doing 108kW and 225Nm in this Javan/Pantera state of tune. On paper those numbers are respectable for the segment, and in practice the Pantera doesn't feel underpowered.
My other thoughts are that the exterior is relatively subdued in comparison to other new Chinese SUVs that seek to stand out. The Lepas name invokes something sporty, feline, aggressive even, but the product itself is a far cry from that, so I find it a bit of a gimmick.
The proportions are tidy enough though, 4,406mm long, sitting on a 2,700mm wheelbase, but nothing about the design makes a case for itself the way the "leopard aesthetics" pitch suggests it should. However, the appearance is not bad at all.
Where the L4 does claw back some ground is inside. My Pantera tester came with faux leather seats, ventilation up front, a power-adjustable driver's seat and an electric sunroof.
The 13.2-inch infotainment screen is crisp and responsive, wireless charging is a nice touch, and the move to a six-speaker setup on the range-topper is appreciated. Practicality is solid too: 458L of boot space growing to 1,284Lwith the rear seats folded is genuinely useful for a compact SUV.
Safety-wise, Chery Group has clearly not skimped on the flagship derivative. The Pantera gets the full suite: adaptive cruise, lane-keeping assist, autonomous emergency braking, blind-spot detection, and a 540-degree camera system.
The aftersales includes a five-year/150,000km warranty, a five-year/75,000km service plan and a 10-year/one-million km engine warranty for the first owner.
It's a good car overall though, value for money, and Chery Group clearly knows how to build a competent, well-equipped compact SUV.
My reservation is simply that the L4 does little to distinguish itself against its siblings. If you didn't know the badge, you'd be hard-pressed to tell this apart from a Tiggo Cross or a J5 wearing a different face.
