Chery’s new brand Lepas is set to reveal its second European launch car next week at Milan design week, which is like fashion week but for sofas. The new car is the L6, a mid-sized SUV that will be available in plug-in hybrid or fully electric flavours. 

Lepas doesn’t say how big the ‘Super Hybrid’ PHEV’s battery is, but the car will manage 700 miles with a full battery and a tank of fuel. If we look at other cars in the group lineup we could guess at something around 18kWh and 55 miles of e-range. 

The electric version get 270 miles from its 67kWh battery, but that’s under the Chinese WLTC system, so it’ll likely be a bit lower when it’s certified for Europe. 

We’ve already seen the new L8, which is set to arrive in the UK at the end of the summer. The smaller L6 will complement the new car and arrive at the end of the year, getting Lepas on the way to having a proper range of cars on sale.

We don’t know too much about the L6 otherwise – it carries on the styling themes we’ve already seen on the L8, just a bit smaller. Lepas is all about elegance and passion, which translates into curvy lines and big alloy wheels. There’s no grille on this new car, just a smooth front end and some sharp styling. 

State-owned Chery is itself a recently launched brand in the UK, with Omoda and Jaecoo also nestled in its portfolio. Jaecoo’s 7 SUV was the bestselling car in the UK in March’s new car figures from the SMMT, which also uses Chery’s ‘Super Hybrid’ tech. For our money Lepas is already shaping up to be the most stylish brand of the lot since its surprise launch in February. Keep an eye out on Electrifying for when the full details of the car are announced. 

Could you pick it out of a lineup? Well no, probably not, but it'll surely be a reasonably priced bargain when it goes on sale later this year...