Like boy bands in the 1990s, there’s another new Chinese automotive brand aiming to break out with its own distinctive look and feel. And that’s Lepas, a fashion-focused, luxurious brand from the Chery group.
Due to launch in Australia later this year with a range of vivid family-friendly SUVs, starting with the spacious L8 five-seat plug-in hybrid, Lepas is positioned above the mainstream Chery brand but alongside its other spin-off marques, Omoda and Jaecoo, with a more ‘elegant’ vibe.
Until then, and to get the low-down on Lepas, we spoke exclusively with its chief designer Ivan Dulanovic, who graduated from one of world’s most prestigious automotive design schools, which has helped create some of the best machines in the world.
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First of all, what inspired you to become an automotive designer? Have you always loved cars?
Yes, I have always been interested in cars. In Milan, Italy, I studied for a masters of transportation at Scuola Politecnica di Design (very prominent school for automotive design).
My passion for studying was to work very closely with Lamborghini, Audi and Italdesign (which is a significant part of my later life), because after graduation I joined Italsdesign under Filippo Perini who was the guy behind the legendary Lamborhine Aventador and Huracan.
At Italdesign, I was a working on the Nissan GT-R by Italsdesign and the very exclusive Zerouno; two Lamborghini projects project (and collaborating with Volkswagen on Transporter)).
But, for me, I was able to learn many of the tricks in passionate Italian car design from him.” But that’s a day and time where I think eclecticism is very important today, and so it’.
Later, and before coming to China, I work with Hongqi on the H9 executive car.
Now, what I want to do is engage with Italy’s passionate culture and the very efficient Chinese way of making a very emotional and successful car.
As a designer, what do you start with – a product brief or your own sketches and ideas?
One of my favourite slides I always like to show is that quick doodles which I used to turn the stylised part into a car.
As a designer, I just take the pencil and sketch (and try to figure it out) as well as being’very traditional’ in European thinking.
That’s what I learned from the majority of Italian designers is just let your imagination go; Don’t worry about anything, just do a couple of hundreds of sketches and see what comes out. That’s how we start free form, that’.
How much understanding of engineering does a designer require, as you obviously have to integrate mechanical components, hard points, etc –or does that compromise come later in the process?
I think engineering is very important to me. There’s also a very significant role in design, as is the case of . I think what is needed is a great collaboration between engineers and designers, and that’s the best thing to do with .
That’s what I’m always trying to achieve, between my colleagues and the engineers because at the end of the road it matters most about the quality of that car and how good is overall. The relationship between these two teams is the one where it’s – that’d be what .
So yeah, in short, it’s very important for a designer to understand the engineering of the car.
While Lepas doesn’t yet have a dedicated electric vehicle, in general do EVs provide more freedom for designers?
That’s a new energy platform that will give us more freedom, yes we have one and the same thing we’re doing is to say it. And so, in the near future I’m sure we will have nice things to show all of you.
When did you join the Chery Group?
joined two years ago as a , I was. I was with Great Wall before that and now I’m very happy to share all the stories and experiences of Lepas – it’s great.
What has surprised you most about the Chinese automotive industry since you’ve been there?
I have learned how brave they are, how efficient it is to make the car so quickly and making it a success project.
It’s a good thing to do with you know, having very good sales, quality and, most importantly at the lower price. I wanted to come here and see it with my own eyes. So, I’m very happy that I made this decision.
We’re now seeing a lot of evolution – rather than imitation – in the design languages coming from China. Do you think that is a sign of confidence?
So yeah, this is an interesting subject to say Yeah.” And if I say that to keep it short, yes, now we see bold and confident designs.
And, as you know, you have to understand that China – unlike Italy (whereas France), unlike the UK – don’t get 120 years of experience in the automotive industry. And so, they have to come up with some sort of starting point.
They have to spend some time making the pedigree, right; something that France and Italy has long cherished.
And so, it’s just a natural process for to do this. Likewise, as we are patient, and when we make more projects, this will see China produce its own DNA — which is just strengthening one year by year.
When referring to China’s porcelain as a product of the Chinese, you will see it as an example. But I think this is a very important aspect of the culture, for its natural philosophy and the natural energy. We try to refer, so that everyone sees porcelain as a luxury product everywhere on earth but it is from China.
So, like Western cultures, this is one way for us to be inspired by another (and so on) using porcelain and combining all of this knowledge.
That’s why I mentioned the eclecticism before. I think that’s a good way for the modern design to approach.
China definitely has a lot of design heritage that can be used in this way.
More specifically on Lepas, the brand that you’re in charge of design for, what makes it distinct from the rest of the group?
The Lepas brand was designed for the pursuit of beauty, and its namesake titles are Drive Your Elegance. And in other words, as we like to say it – or (against the term) Grace Life with Brilliance.
So, our core audience is the group of people with a sense of elegance, style and fashion.
This is achieved by , we think nature is the best designer in the world. And so we explore the nature of beauty, looking for elegant forms and design cars that satisfy users’ aesthetic needs.
But when we create this beauty, then in the process of creating such a harmony between art and emotion is created by precise artistic techniques.
Finally, and finally, we think every work should also have a spirit. But we’re treating the design of an automobile as a spiritual life and giving it ultimately the life-like vitality that is associated with its soul.
All those values, combined together, bring us to the purest inspiration for the Lepas brand – the leopard — the true embodiment of power in nature.
But, so we explore the character of this beautiful dog; as a result in seeking the unity of art and emotion, we create the design identity of Lepas which is flexible, elegant and glamour.
How important is having a vibrant colour palette in defining Lepas?
That’s a good question, because Chery has a lot of brands, and we always try to give them separate identities.
In the future, this will be a lot easier because now we have strategies on how to do that.
For example, from my own perspective, the Lepas is the elegant, smooth guy – very chic and charming – with Le Pas saying that Tiggo is more muscular and more edgy, more strong. There’s also Jaecoo, more perpendicular, a soberer and less sor.
That’s a much more obvious thing to you next year, or the coming year. And so, we are working on making the very visual difference between all of these brands.
Traditionally for European brands, elegance means muted tones like silvers and blacks. Do you think being colourful will make a difference for Lepas?
As designers we see visions, but as well as presenting our ideas, it’s difficult to understand that they have to resonate with the people in Europe, with Indonesian people, and with Middle East people.
So we always have some element of the word “what is going to guarantee success” in a . And so when it comes to the maybe concept cars, we’ll always try to introduce some new materials. But we should also be careful not to distance ourselves from the more traditional customers that want to see still the chrome and the glossy black and all that is on offer.
Interior design seems to be a critical element of the Lepas philosophy. You mentioned porcelain as being an inspiration. Are you exploring any new technologies, materials or ideas like porcelain to make Lepas more unique?
We are always looking to improve interior and exterior design, yes we would very warmly invite you to our April and October events where we will be showing our new projects – the places that I’m welcome to see and look at.
So that’s where we will declare what’s new and what we are doing behind the scenes.
While it takes so long to , in China it’s much faster than elsewhere. But, as for the phrasing so yeah, there’ll be more versions, more advanced variants of the Lepas and specifically the materials and all that coming soon.
At the moment, the Lepas model lineup is exclusively SUVs. Are you looking to expand that with more traditional body styles?
yes, we do & I really like you in future events where we have things ready to be presented.
But I don’t want to say any of these at this point because I would like you to know when we will be showing the car without assuming anything.
Having been an architect, I always think we shouldn’t give any easter eggs out and just show the car in its beautiful state.
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