Chinese automakers want to come to US. They could be here fairly soon

[NickB79]

Source: CNN

Chinese cars could be at an American dealership sooner than you think, and that’s good news for US consumers.

Chinese car companies make more vehicles than anyone else on Earth and export more as well. But high tariffs and hostile US-China trade relations have kept them out of the American market.

That’s likely to change, according to experts, with Chinese autos hitting US showrooms in the next five to ten years.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/15/business/chinese-automakers-eye-us-move

---

If China started marketing some of their cutting edge EV's here, it would decimate US automakers.

[Klarkashton]

1. I'm good with this. Enough bullshit already.

If they have better products it's not their fault it's our fault

[SoFlaBro]

2. These MAGA motherfuckers only want to fucking increase tariffs to fuck us all up. Piss on those fucking MAGA turds.

[Deuxcents]

3. Didn't they see how we treated the Japanese and South Korean auto workers in Georgia?

[EX500rider]

7. Maybe they should have had work visa's?

In September 2025, over 300 South Korean nationals were detained and subsequently removed from the U.S. following an immigration raid at a Hyundai electric vehicle manufacturing site in Georgia. They were found to be working illegally, possessing expired visas, or using visa waivers that prohibited them from working, prompting federal officials to act against the unauthorized employment.

What Japanese?

Try working illegally in China and see how that goes.

[RazorbackExpat]

38. There were three Japanese workers who were caught up in that bullshit

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/09/10/japan/three-japanese-raid-us/

As someone who has helped to prepare numerous work visa applications for Japanese being dispatched to US work sites, I can practically assure you that the company those Japanese workers worked for made sure they had the correct visa.

And Trump asked to-be-deported Koreans to stay, but all but one of them said thanks, but no thanks

https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/trump-offered-let-detained-korean-workers-stay-us-almost-all-heading-home-2025-09-11/

[walkingman]

4. I think we should be able to choose what we want to buy. It's call the free market

something that most Americans have supported for decades. Autos are overpriced in the US.

I worry more about US policies than a Chinese threat.

[RoseTrellis]

51. US labor can't compete.

I agree that we have supported the bloated industry for a long time.
Regardless of that, they are cheaper partly because they pay their workers what be less than minimum wage in the US.
How can we pay our automakers a living wage, it be able to compete with subsidized EVs, or a nation that pays low wages so the labor costs results in a cheaper product?
All of the people who insist on being able to buy a cheap EV are blind to the fact that the end results is NO domestic automobile companies, because they will go out of business because their is no way they can be competitive and pay for American labor prices.

Chinese EV makers’ labor costs average around $585 per vehicle produced. This is much lower than US mainstream automakers at about $1,341 per vehicle, Japanese at roughly $769, and premium European brands often exceeding $2,000. The gap comes from hourly wages in Chinese manufacturing typically ranging $4–7 (sometimes up to $10 in coastal areas), versus $30+ per hour plus heavy benefits for US auto workers.

[walkingman]

53. Totally agree with the wage issues being a major obstacle. It reminds me of the 60s when

Japan was viewed as cheap in the US. In fact many people would refuse to buy Japanese products (or Jap as they used to say - a holdover from the war). In reality, Japan set the standard in quality for years and many of our present day quality standards come from the Japanese.

Like Japan, the Chinese might decide to move some of their manufacturing to the US and along with bring their manufacturing concepts with them. Competition creates benefits for consumers and although not sure how much the US government will be willing to subsidize auto manufacturing prices can come down even as most auto companies no longer use the manpower of the past (robots).

But the price of autos has increased dramatically in the last 10 years along with Executive pay, stock buybacks, even as labor costs are down because of automation.

Prices are too damn high!! And it apples to everything, everywhere and is not sustainable. ☮

[flvegan]

5. As long as they meet or exceed US safety standards, then good.

No shortcuts. No small family trying to save some money should be flattened by Johnny McBroDozer who is busy texting his cousin about what they should name their next child.

I can also see the Big 3 (Ford, GM, Stellantis) somehow "insisting" (re: paying off congressidiots) that they be imported and rebranded as their own products, adding 25% to the cost with zero actual input nor benefit. That's the shitty timeline we've been on and will continue to be on.

[SunSeeker]

6. We've given US auto companies so many chances and bailouts.

Yet they still produce expensive, unreliable pieces of shit, and have done so since the 1970s. I am totally disgusted with them. The last decent American car I owned was a 1965 Mustang.

[tazcat]

16. Ford was the only one NOT to take a bailout.

[SunSeeker]

23. I know, but Ford has leaned on protectionist policies like all of the other American car manufacturers.

And they got lazy.

[Callie1979]

17. I dont get the constant bashing of US auto quality.

A '65 Mustang was a dog compared to the autos of today. I've owned both foreign & domestic autos over =the past decades.
2007 342k miles on a Pontiac; only replaced the water pump
2013 279k Hyundai Elantra, water pump
2004 254k Chevy Monte Carlo, radiator & water pump
1999 214k Pontiac Grand Prix, water pump
1992 & '96 224k Acura Integra, water pump & fuel pump ; another Integra 218k
1986 Dodge Daytona, 228k transmission. The ONLY major issue & thats 40 yrs ago.
Currently driving a 2013 Civic with 212k on it & still own a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan with 159k on it

According to JD Power survey, the number of defects per 100 cars between the #1 vehicle & the #20 car isnt much. #1 is a Lexus w/166. The #20 is a Lincoln w/206

Now if you want to bash PRICES I'll wave that flag with you every day. Thats why the ONLY new car I ever bought was my FIRST car. And I'll never buy another new one.

[SunSeeker]

22. It's all relative.

In 1965, the Mustang was the best little runabout around, compared to anything else out there at the time. And it was no dog.

Fast forward to the 1970s and 1980s, as gas got more expensive and people wanted something zippy but fuel efficient, Japan gave us the Civic and Corolla. American manufacturers gave us crap like the Pinto and Chevette. American car manufacturers never caught up and now have abandoned that segment to the Japanese. Your experience with American cars is not the norm.
And as you note, you now drive a Civic.

American manufacturers continue to lag behind foreign manufacturers with major component (i.e. engine & transmission) reliability issues that you don't get with Japanese manufacturers, and the disparity has only gotten worse. It's not just the number of defects per car, but what the defect is.

I would be happy to pay the high prices if the American cars were as reliable and efficient as Toyotas or Hondas. But they're not.

I really wanted to continue to support American manufacturers, but they have made it impossible. I currently own a 2021 Ford Escape PHEV. I wish I had bought the more expensive Toyota RAV4 Prime. The trips to the Ford dealership have gotten to be almost monthly. It took them 4 tries to fix a check engine light the last 2 months. The Escape was in the shop for weeks. My next car will definitely be a Toyota RAV4 PHEV. Life is too short to spend at the dealer. And Ford discontinued the Escape this year anyway. Ford has now abandoned the compact SUV market to the Japanese as well. Pathetic.

[Callie1979]

40. Abandoning the smaller car mkt has pissed me off too. I prefer 2 door coupes.

I'm tall so I've always preferred a 2 door.
If I buy American 2 doors now, it's gonna be a hot rod; Challenger, Mustang. And for a "regular" coupe, it's gonna pretty much only be a Honda. Toyota & Nissan is gonna be a Lexus & Infiniti; much more expensive
Monte Carlo is gone. Grand Prix is gone. Even my 2 door Hyundai was only made 2 yrs.
Thats irritates me but it's the market that forced it; all the "keeping up with the Joneses" types who HAVE to have Yukon to take Jimmy & Megan to soccer because all the OTHER wives have one. Or bearded tattooed Butch who HAS to have the full sized elevated Silverado because it's the only way to stay masculine.

[radicalleft]

32. As someone who works for one of the big three

Your comments re insulting!

But go ahead...keep bashing the industry that employs hundreds of thousands of your fellow Americans and many more thousands around the globe.

[SunSeeker]

41. It's not the workers' fault, it's the CEOs' fault. The CEOs cut back on quality control to save $$.

Because CEOs are idiot bean counters who know nothing about cars, and certainly have no passion for building good cars like you do.

They did you dirty, not me.

[radicalleft]

49. Yeah Bill Ford Jr. doesn't know anything about cars

lol...

[SunSeeker]

54. What makes you think nepo babies are competent? Come on.

Bill Ford Jr, who is not CEO but sits on the board, has a MIT degree in business management, not engineering. He's a bean counter.

How about Trump suck-up and current CEO Jim Farley? What explains his dereliction of quality control? Or abandonment of the small car market? Or abandonment of the compact SUV market?

Those guys failed you. And us.

[radicalleft]

59. JFC...I work for him

Just stop - I know the commitments to quality and his passion for cars. My god. Just stop already. I get it, you don't like FMC

[SunSeeker]

60. Ask Mr. Passion why he killed off Ford cars and small SUVs.

I was a lifelong Ford fan. I owned a 1965 Mustang, a Ford XL convertible, an Escort, and a Focus. And I currently own a recall-plagued Ford Escape PHEV. Ford discontinued the Escape this year. Why? Why couldn't they just make it BETTER? I was a loyal Ford customer for decades (my entire adult life), until Ford made it impossible. Now, they are basically just a pickup company.

[Jerry2144]

8. I'd love to get a Chinese EV

They've cracked the code on how to get range, reliability, and price up there.

[Callie1979]

18. Wait till Toyota gets their solid state batteries to market

They're expected to have almost unlimited lifetime & a range of over 600 miles per charge

[RainCaster]

9. I would like to buy a BYD

I've seen them in other countries, and I'm very impressed. Far better quality than Tesla or anything else from America.

[peppertree]

24. A common sentiment around the world, in fact

Take Argentina - where Trump's Mini-me, Javier Milei, parades non-stop as the "most anti-Chinese human alive today" (though the 'human' part is still up for debate).

Electric vehicle sales are finally starting to take off there. And BYD - which sold its first car in Argentina only last September, made up 72% of the 533 EVs sold there this January.

JMEV - another Chinese firm - made up 5% (GM was #2, at 7%).

And Tesla? One.

Not 1%....one car.

And the trend is only intensifying in BYD's favor: https://www.mendocinobeacon.com/2026/01/21/argentina-chinese-evs-arrival/

Their carma ran over Milei's dogma, you might say.

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

35. I'm currently in Rwanda and ...

... we have a BYD electric. It is great for moving around town and I have taken int out to other parts of the country. With careful planning - making sure it is fully charged before starting - we made it there and back with no issues on a single charge.

I see a surprising number of Chinese vehicles - cars, medium to large trucks, buses, etc - many of them electric or hybrid all around Africa.

I would certainly consider on in the US. But parts and maintenance are a question here and would be a bigger one in the US.

Can we consider the "Big 3" American anymore. Crysler is not, not really, and I have doubts about Ford. Don't know enough about GM these days.

I used to live in Michigan and drove a Toyota Camry. I was at a gas station in Flint when a guy in a GM asked me, "What's it like to drive a foreign car?" I replied, "I don't know. This one was built in Tennessee. I hear your engine is from Mexico." I doubt I was very accurate with my assertions, but it did shut him up.

I had a hard time getting my Toyota serviced in Michigan, so I ended up getting an Oldsmobile after the Camry died.

[hunter]

39. My wife's 40+ year old Toyota is now owned by a neighbor who is still driving it daily.

It looks it's age but it's still a useful vehicle.

Of course we live in a place with a mild climate where cars don't rust away and everyone has a close relative or friend who is a mechanic.

My own favorite car was a Toyota Corolla I bought for $900. Approaching 200,000 miles it was still going strong when a distracted driver in a big SUV drove off the road and totaled it while it was parked in our driveway.

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

45. Toyotas are everywhere here in Rwanda

I would estimate that 7-8/10 cars, SUVs, and pickups here are Toyotas with the Corolla, RAV-4, and Hilux as the most common models. Most are 10-15 years old. Some 20-30 years old. I'm told this is because Toyota parts are readily available and all mechanics know how to fix them.

Parts a maintenance play a huge role in popularity here. It is one of the fears that keep new cars off the market. BYD and other Chinese makers are pushing to make sure parts are available and mechanics know how to service them. It is still a concern for many buyers.

It may also prove to be a concern in the US, as will the embedded smart systems all being primarily in Chinese with limited and sometimes faulty English translations.

[dalton99a]

48. +1. Toyota was practically the official vehicle of ISIS - because they didn't want to be stranded in the desert

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

58. When I first started seeing those familiar white Toyota pickups everywhere in Africa ...

... I looked for the machine guns mounted in the beds.

I haven't seen the makeshift weapons platforms in Rwanda, Angola, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Africa, or Morocco -- but I would not be surprised if there are still some driving around Libya or Sudan.

They last forever with the right maintenance.

[msongs]

10. so the UAW is gonna work for china level slave wages to keep car prices down?

[multigraincracker]

29. I don't think so and hope they organize them for a living wage.

[mitch96]

11. Pay the rRump family enough money and you can get what you want....nt

[mountain grammy]

12. And by "fairly soon" your mean 5 to 10 years?

This old llady will be lucky to be alive, much less driving in 5 years.

I sure do dream about one of those cheap ass electtric Chinese cars though, and the motor homes.. pure genius!

[Polybius]

14. By then, self-driving cars might be fully mainstream and perfected

No driving necessary. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.

[mountain grammy]

25. Sounds good!👍

[Dr. T]

13. I cringe when I see the words "Made in China" on anything.

They make cheap junk that falls apart fast and can't be repaired.

[BidenRocks]

15. A BYD would be interesting.

I could trade my 328i BMW.
Chump never worked on a car and is ignorant when he says we want gas and grease back.
Us Boomers had a wonderful run with the 60s and early 70s Muscle Cars.

Younger went smaller with Hondas and imports.

New drivers just want to get where their going whether driving or Lyft or Metro. I feel the big attachment is gone.

Inexpensive, safe, a good interior interface and style.

China is forcing change and no amount of tariffs will stop it.

[Callie1979]

20. I dont know, I see a LOT of "ego vehicles" on the roads today.

[aggiesal]

19. If it's the same cars they're planning on selling in Canada

They're cheap cars that don't satisfy Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) by the National Highway Traffic Safety administration (NHTSS)

[Mosby]

21. Most Chinese-manufactured vehicles do not meet U.S. federal safety standards

For a Chinese car to be road-legal in the US, it must undergo extensive, expensive modifications to meet NHTSA crash test and equipment requirements.

[Ilikepurple]

26. I'm guessing that and anticipated tariffs is why you can't go to a showroom and buy one today.

But, Chinese automobile manufacturing is not a static proposition and neither are NHTSA rules or perhaps the existence of NHTSA itself in the Trump era. I’m not sure what your response is actually to? If you are suggesting that someone doesn’t buy a Chinese car from let’s say Europe and hope to register it here, then I agree that it would be very expensive to import and to modify to pass regulations. If you are asserting, tariffs or import bans aside, that Chinese automobile manufacturers couldn’t bring cars that pass US regulations after showing success in passing different but demand Euro regulations, I’d have to disagree, especially as they gear up to ent we the Canadian market.

[multigraincracker]

30. Neither do the ones built by Musk.

Unsafe at any speed. Death traps.

[EX500rider]

52. "Unsafe at any speed. Death traps." Opinion or any data for that?

Tesla vehicles are engineered for top-tier crash safety, consistently earning 5-star ratings from the NHTSA and high marks from Euro NCAP due to their low center of gravity, large crumple zones, and stiff cabin structure. Active features like Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Warning, and extensive airbag systems help prevent collisions and reduce injury risk.

[yaesu]

27. I remember a month ago watching a video about Russians having no options but China vehicles and nightmare stories about

strange things going wrong with them, getting locked out, starting by themselves, ect... I do know for a fact the China made transceivers are some of the finest I have used so what they sell here will probably be of higher quality compared to Russia.

[Miguelito Loveless]

28. US legacy automakers rolled over

for the Child Rapist on EVs. Trump will sell them out once China offers him a bribe. They have sought their own destruction. No sympathy.

[radicalleft]

33. NO THEY DID NOT!

The US doesn't have the infrastructure for mass adoption of EV and customers just didn't want them. FMC just wrote off $11.5B due to this and no company walks away from that kind of investment if they think it will get better.

[Miguelito Loveless]

34. EV adoption was increasing double digit

in the US for quite some time, but with increasing backlash and disinformation campaigns by Big Oil and legacy auto. While the rate of increase did decline, the increase in sales was still positive. Dealers however did NOT want to sell EVs as it upset their profit model (ICE cars require more repairs and maintenance which is 50% of a dealer’s profits). I know this first hand from visiting dealerships posing as a buyer in my area. They would do everything possible to discourage buying EVs, including disparaging EVs with the usual canards. I also went with actual buyers of new and used EVs as a “friend” and got to listen to sales people lie through their teeth. Trump’s hostility towards EVs was present with legacy auto for the last decade.

The reason Tesla sold a lot of EVs is because it was the only dealer that wanted to sell EVs (and now Musk has screwed that up with his pro-Nazi/White Supremacist views and ties to Epstein.

Even with salesmen actively trashing EVs, sales growth was positive, but when Trump came in legacy auto caved immediately, as they shared his views. Meanwhile, Kia/Hyundai are selling more EVs every month.

[SunSeeker]

44. US EV sales growth plateaued in 2023.

On September 30, 2025, all federal tax credits for used, new, and leased electric vehicles ended. So it was no surprise, then, that Q3 of 2025 saw record sales for new and used PHEVs and BEVs, as people moved up their EV purchases to take advantage of the $7,500 tax credit. Total EV sales then plummeted in Q4 of 2025.

[Miguelito Loveless]

46. Again auto dealers

have worked overtime to discourage EV sales and with arrival of Trump that action moved into overdrive. All the players have scrambled to abandon EVs and go back to ICE (except Musk, who just abandoned selling EV's for his asinine "transportation as a service" plan and vaporware promises of selling a trillion dollars worth of autonomous robots). By these choices they are actively harming their customers, public health, and the climate. They have willfully ceded their futures to squeeze more money out of the past.

This is stupid on dozens of levels and ultimately they are setting themselves up for bankruptcy since the rest of the world (minus Russia) is moving away from oil. There are a finite number of people in the US who will keep buying pickup trucks and monster SUVs.

Will this happen overnight? No, but the infrastructure of the world is moving that way. The future is a speeding train and car makers have decided to lay down and sleep on the tracks.

[SunSeeker]

55. Biden's Infrastructure Act would have greatly expanded charging infrastructure. Trump killed that.

That was the only hope of re-energizing US EV sales that had plateaued.

I agree, Republicans and current auto manufacturers have willfully ceded our future to squeeze more money out of the past, much to the detriment of consumers, public health, and the climate...and ultimately, the auto manufacturers themselves.

[SunSeeker]

43. Yup, America is too spread out for EVs, with insufficient infrastructure.

I was one of the first people to buy a Chevy Bolt. I loved it at first, but trying to go on a road trip out of town was a nightmare of range anxiety and inoperable/nonexistent charging stations. So I switched to a Ford Escape PHEV in 2021, and found it to be the best of both worlds., running as an EV in town, then using the hybrid engine on the highways, with zero range anxiety. Now if only it was reliable!

[hunter]

31. Look how well English exceptionalism worked out for them.

It's been a downhill slide since they lost their empire, and that slide continues as they are now regretting Brexit.

Exceptionalism is not going to work out any better for the U.S.A..

China has become a major industrial power. That's the reality we live in.

With a few exceptions China can match the quality of anything made in the U.S.A. or Europe.

Here in the U.S.A we're going to be as surprised by Chinese cars as we were by Japanese cars.

Today many U.S. passenger vehicles are nostalgia cars, Corvettes and Challengers for example. Our exports are limited because monster American Trucks and SUVs are simply too big and clumsy to drive comfortably on city streets in much of the world.

Personally I want car culture to go away. We ought to be rebuilding our cities, turning them into affordable attractive places where car ownership is unnecessary. The people with the smallest environmental footprints generally live in cities, don't own cars, and have a largely vegetarian diet. We don't have to force that lifestyle on anyone because many people would prefer it but the opportunity is denied them.

[Vinca]

36. US automakers have had their chance. Lots of people want small, energy-efficient vehicles.

US automakers seem intent on putting out giant pickup trucks with crew cabs for people with no crews and that require a stepladder to get into. They make a few small cars, but they're not affordable. I'm not paying 3 times the cost of my first house for a new car.

[angrycaveman]

37. competition is the only thing that forces quality

Can you imagine the junk we would be forced to buy today without the Japanese? But it wasn't all roses and fanfare at first and I'm sure the Chinese car makes will face the same harassments as the 70/80s.

early U.S. owners of Japanese cars, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s, faced harassment and anti-Japanese sentiment driven by industrial decline in Detroit, trade tensions, and the "Buy American" movement. Japanese cars were initially dismissed as poor quality "tin boxes" in the 1960s, but as they became popular for fuel efficiency and reliability during the 1970s oil crisis, they became targets for public destruction by proponents of domestic automakers.

Firm believer that the Japanese car makers had a direct impact on forcing American car makers to think about quality and price, and it was for the better. The same will apply here.

And America can still compete. I love the story coming from Slate: https://www.slate.auto/en

[SunSeeker]

42. I remember the racist undertones in the 1970s, calling Japanese cars "rice burners."

Japan had the past laugh. They make the most reliable cars in the world now. And Detroit completely gave up on trying to make economy cars.

[hunter]

47. Before Japanese cars it was Volkswagens.

My dad was the black sheep of his family because he drove Volkswagens. Some of his relatives really did say things like "You can't park that here! What will the neighbors think?" and it was only partly in jest.

[thought crime]

57. My father bought his first VW new in Germany in 1950's for a couple hundred dollars.

I drove used VW beetles through the 70's. I used the famous "How to keep your Volkswagen Alive" book and rebuilt engines twice. I replaced valve guide rods on the side of the highway on a cross-country trip. Replaced clutch cables, piston rings, brakes, etc. Wind or high altitude could slow the thing down to a top speed of 25 mph.

Now I rarely open the hood on our old subaru and honda.

[pcdb]

50. I feel like the Democratic party is transforming into the free market capitalists we once loathed.

I can remember a time when we supported protectionist policies like tariffs that benefitted American auto-workers.

[SunSeeker]

56. Democrats are not against all tariffs.

Dems still support strategic, precisely applied tariffs in specific industries where there is unfair foreign competition, to level the playing field. They oppose the blanket, country-wide mindless tariffs that Trump has applied. Trump’s tariffs are for purely political reasons and they are killing our small businesses and farmers.

Please stop bashing Democrats. Dems (i.e., WE) are not the problem.