Survey: How Readers Think Chinese EVs Will Hit America
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- Electrek ran a sidebar survey with more than 3,000 responses asking readers how the first Chinese EVs will be sold in the US, framing the question as "not a matter of IF but WHEN" given Canada's canola-for-cars deal bringing Chinese EVs to North America.
- Nearly 500 respondents voted that Chinese EVs will "never happen," predicting federal border protections to shield the US auto industry, with commenters expecting bipartisan enforcement regardless of which party holds power.
- Nearly 700 respondents agreed with the suggestion that GM, Ford, or Stellantis would bring Chinese EVs in through joint ventures and sell them via dealer networks, drawing parallels to how Geo and Eagle operated in the 1980s.
- Roughly 1 in 5 respondents disagreed with the premise that Chinese EVs are inevitably coming to the US, underscoring the lack of consensus on the question's premise.
- Ford already assembles the Lincoln Nautilus at Changan Ford's Hangzhou plant in China, with both Ford's own technical specifications and NHTSA listing Hangzhou as the vehicle's final assembly location — a Chinese-built car already sold under one of America's most historic domestic brands.
- Volvo has imported Chinese-built cars to the US since 2015, and Honda's most recent Fit was imported into Canada from China, demonstrating that Chinese-assembled vehicles have entered North American showrooms under established legacy brand names.
Why it matters: The survey reveals Chinese-built vehicles are already arriving in the US under legacy brand badges — Ford's Lincoln Nautilus, Volvo, and Honda Fit are all assembled in China — making the JV-and-dealer channel the most likely path for direct Chinese EV imports if federal protections don't intervene.
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