Chinese Automakers Targeting Upper Echelons Of U.S. Market

A Chinese car expert believes that when Chinese automakers launch in the United States, they won’t do so with super-cheap vehicles. Instead, they will target the upper-echelons of the market.

Speaking with Automotive News, president of Hong Kong consulting firm Dunne Automotive, Michael Dunne said that Chinese carmakers are developing advanced, self-driving and environmentally-friendly vehicles aimed at unsettling the luxury vehicle market.

“Aren’t Chinese companies supposed to be low-cost competitors that will come in with $10,000 cars? No, they’re coming in with premium electric vehicles,” Dunne said at an automotive press event in Detroit.

We’ve already seen what Chinese-backed Faraday Future and Lucid Motors have cooked up for the U.S. market and they’re not alone. Wanxiang recently unveiled the Revero plug-in hybrid and Chinese company Tencent has provided financial backing to NextEV and its Nio EP9, a record-setting electric hypercar.

Additionally, Geely unveiled its Lynk & Co mobility brand late last year and aims to produce the most connected cars on the market, not cut-price hatchbacks with shoddy build quality.

According to Dunne, these companies are initially aiming at competing with U.S. vehicles in terms of performance and quality, not pricing.

“I don’t see the Chinese coming in with extremely competitive pricing and taking market share away. They’ll come, but it will be gradual,” he said.