- Analysts see Chinese cars arriving in five years.
- Geely could be among the first to build locally.
- BYD appears keen on expanding into the US.
Chinese cars are gaining ground across the globe, reshaping the market as they go. Yet despite their rapid international expansion, they have so far been unable to break into the US. While some once assumed they would never be sold locally, it is increasingly plausible that vehicles from Chinese brands could reach American buyers, and even be built on US soil.
More: Farley Spent Years Warning About China, Now He’s Talking With Trump About Letting Them In
The primary obstacle has been trade policy. Chinese vehicles imported into the United States face a 100% tariff, the highest rate applied to any automotive import. Combined with strained US-China trade relations, that barrier has effectively kept them out of American showrooms. However, that could soon change, as CNN reports.
Could Policy Open The Door?
President Donald Trump has been a fierce critic of many Chinese products, but he made a surprising revelation last month. He indicated that he would welcome Chinese carmakers into America with open arms, as long as they commit to building cars in local factories.
“If they want to come in and build the plant and hire you and hire your friends and your neighbors, that’s great. I love that,” he said. “Let China come in.”
A White House official later clarified that the administration supports foreign investment in US manufacturing, provided national and economic security are not compromised.
Weighing Exports Against US Factories
While juggernauts like BYD and Geely would likely prefer to manufacture vehicles in China and export them to the United States to capitalize on lower labor costs, the scale of the American market may justify local investment. Establishing production facilities in the US would be costly, but the opportunity could outweigh the expense.
China’s auto industry scale makes that ambition plausible. The country now produces roughly one-third of all vehicles built globally and exported more than 8 million cars last year. In 2023, it surpassed Japan to become the world’s largest vehicle exporter.
According to CNN, several industry experts believe Chinese cars could reach US showrooms within the next 5 to 10 years. Auto analyst Lei Xing told the network that multiple companies have already expressed a “readiness to come to the US, to build in the US.”
Geely may be one of the first to commit to American production. As it owns Volvo, it could seek to share production capacity at the Swedish carmaker’s South Carolina plant. Given America’s love of big and expensive vehicles, this site could also be the perfect home to the high-end vehicles from Zeekr.
Would Americans Buy Chinese Cars?
The arrival of Chinese cars in the US obviously wouldn’t be without controversy. After all, Canada just opened the door, which has already upset many. Chinese carmakers will then need to convince American consumers to buy from them, which could be a challenge. However, if the products are good enough and the price is right, there could be little to hold them back.
Michael Dunne, an auto industry consultant, told CNN that the average vehicle exported from China last year carried a price of about $19,000, compared with roughly $50,000 for the average new vehicle sold in the United States. Greater competition, particularly in the EV space, could put downward pressure on transaction prices.
Read: Zeekr’s New SUV Looks Like A Rolls, Hits Like A Hypercar, And Still Burns Gas
“Do Americans really care who made the car as long as it’s a good car? I don’t think they do,” Bill Russo from the Shanghai-based Automobility advisory firm told the network. “They go to Walmart, they buy Chinese stuff all the time. I think at the end of the day, it’s the market that cares about value for the money first. And xenophobia can only take you so far.”
