- Another Chinese EV player just hit North America.
- Leapmotor, a startup making EVs and hybrids, started sales in Mexico with the B10 crossover.
- It’s looking less likely than ever that Chinese cars will make it into the U.S. soon, though.
As the United States shuns Chinese cars more forcefully than ever, more and more of them are going on sale just across its borders.
This week, the Chinese EV startup Leapmotor announced that it had entered the Mexican market with the B10 crossover, Automotive News reported. The company is selling cars through Stellantis’ dealership network. The auto giant, which owns the Jeep, Ram, and Fiat brands among others, took a 21% stake in Leapmotor in 2023 and has been instrumental in exporting its cars to new markets. After Europe and South America, the latest target is Mexico, which is already seeing a China-fueled EV boom.
Sales of plug-in vehicles tripled in the country last year, and 85% of those sales were Chinese imports, according to the International Energy Agency. And Chinese automakers aren’t slowing down. BYD has announced plans to build cars locally there, and both it and Geely are in talks to take over a Nissan plant. SAIC-GM-Wuling, General Motors’ Chinese joint venture, also aims to make vehicles in Mexico.
Photo by: Leapmotor
Now Leapmotor is jumping into the fray with the B10, an extended-range EV that costs 575,000 pesos (around $33,000). Leapmotor says it offers 990 kilometers (615 miles) of range. It has a big, Tesla-like touchscreen in the center of its dash.
Founded in 2015, Leapmotor is China’s largest so-called “new energy vehicle” startup by sales and is a rapidly growing player on the global stage. In the first half of this year, it sold some 356,000 cars, about double the same period last year. It moved just over 93,000 vehicles in June alone, setting a monthly record. (BYD still outsells it in China, but has existed for decades longer.)
China’s car industry is making moves north of the border as well. Reuters reports that Lotus EVs from Geely will arrive this month as the first Chinese-branded models sold under a new trade agreement between the two countries. The agreement allows up to 49,000 Chinese EVs to be imported to Canada under a lower tariff rate.
The Lotus Eletre. Geely’s Lotus brand will be the first Chinese-owned brand to import EVs into Canada under a new trade regime, Reuters reported.
China’s ambassador to Canada, Wang Di, told Reuters that he hopes “other Chinese brand EVs will complete the procedures and get into the Canadian market” this fall. BYD has said it will start up sales next year, and Chery vehicles have been spotted on Canadian soil too.
What does this all mean for the U.S. and Americans who are clamoring for high-tech, affordable Chines EVs? Chinese manufacturers could use Mexico or Canada as a beachhead to eventually enter the States, which is the world’s second biggest car market after China. That’s especially true if they can establish local manufacturing, like BYD and others are trying to do.
At the same time, Polestar was just booted from the U.S. market over its Chinese ownership. U.S. tariffs on Chinese cars remain well over 100% and tensions are high. So getting any kind of foothold in the U.S. is looking more challenging than ever. Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa acknowledged as much at a recent investor event in Michigan, per The Detroit News.
“There is space in Mexico, there is maybe space in Canada,” Filosa said, referring to Leapmotor sales. “For sure, now, there is no space in the United States. We don’t see that.”
Contact the author: Tim.Levin@InsideEVs.com