Chery believes novated leasing will become an increasingly important sales channel as its Australian EV range expands across more vehicle segments and brands.
Speaking with Fleet News Group at Everything Electric in Sydney, Lucas Harris, Chief Operating Officer at Chery Motor Australia & New Zealand, said the company was already seeing encouraging demand for its electric models through novated leasing.
“Well, to be honest, we’re having a good run of all of them,” Harris said. “The E5 and and J5 are going particularly well.”
For fleet buyers and employers, that growth matters because novated leasing has become an important pathway for employees moving into electric vehicles, particularly where vehicles are being selected outside the traditional company fleet model.
E5 and J5 already finding buyers
Harris identified the E5 and J5 as two models currently performing well.
The E5 sits in one of the most competitive parts of the electric SUV market, while Chery used Everything Electric to reveal an updated version with revised exterior styling, new wheels, a larger 15.6-inch centre screen and upgraded seating.
The existing 155kW electric powertrain remains, with Chery quoting 430km of WLTP range.
For novated leasing customers, vehicles such as the E5 can provide a relatively conventional SUV package while still offering the tax advantages that currently apply to eligible Battery Electric Vehicles.
The result is another potential entry point for employees considering an EV without necessarily moving into a premium vehicle segment.
A larger EV could broaden the audience
Harris also expects the expanding range with the Lepas brand will create more opportunities to reach different novated leasing customers.
“No doubt once the L6 is available for sale, then I think that will go quite well too, being a slightly bigger vehicle and a bit more premium,” he said.
That broader choice is important.
Novated leasing is not a single vehicle segment. Employees may be looking for small commuter cars, family SUVs, larger premium vehicles or something that provides a stronger design or lifestyle proposition.
As Chery Group adds more EVs, it can potentially participate in more of those decisions.
Lepas adds another EV pipeline
Harris also pointed to upcoming product from Lepas as another potential source of novated leasing growth.
“Some really exciting Lepas product coming over the next 12 months, which will all be BEV,” Harris said. “So that’s going to be attractive for those novated purchases also.”
The Lepas range is being positioned differently from Chery’s mainstream products, with a greater emphasis on design and a more premium presentation.
Harris said the brand was intended to appeal to buyers wanting something different from the conventional SUV formula.
“I think it’s people that want nicer things,” Harris said. “There’s so so many boring, grey SUVs, and we want to be able to bring something that is a step up in luxuriousness and certainly in design.”
That positioning could make Lepas particularly relevant to the user-chooser and novated leasing markets, where the individual driver often has more influence over vehicle selection than they would in a tightly specified operational fleet.
Smaller EVs are also coming
Chery Group is not only expanding upwards. During the conversation, Harris also showed Fleet News Group the Lepas L2, describing it as a small hatchback around Corolla size.
A smaller electric vehicle would give the group another potential application in novated leasing, particularly for employees who do not need a medium or large SUV.
It also highlights how the EV market is beginning to broaden beyond the segments that dominated the first phase of Australian electric vehicle adoption.
More choice could help employers broaden EV uptake
For employers offering novated leasing, the expanding product range may be just as important as any individual model.
One of the barriers to EV adoption has been limited choice in particular vehicle sizes, body styles and price points.
Chery Group’s strategy appears to be addressing that by spreading electric models across different brands and segments rather than relying on one or two vehicles.
For Fleet Managers and Procurement Managers, that could make novated leasing a more useful part of an organisation’s broader emissions reduction strategy, particularly where employees are responsible for choosing and financing their own vehicles.
The opportunity for Chery will be to convert the growing number of EV models into sustained demand while also giving novated leasing providers and drivers confidence around resale values, servicing, parts availability and long-term support.
Harris’ comments suggest Chery sees the channel as more than an incidental source of sales.
With the E5 and J5 already finding buyers, the L6 broadening the range and further Lepas BEVs due over the next 12 months, novated leasing is becoming an increasingly relevant part of the group’s Australian EV strategy.
