HAAH Automotive Holdings, a California company states it will construct and sell Chinese-designed automobiles in the U.S. in the end of next year or early in 2022.
HAAH Automotive Holdings states it has an agreement with Chinese automaker Chery Automobile to offer the vehicles, which will be assembled in a U.S. factory. HAAH states the first vehicle sold is going to be a midsize SUV.
It’s the recent effort to bring passenger vehicles made in China to the United States, but other attempts so far have experienced limited success. GAC Motor of China has appeared at the last two Detroit auto shows to tout plans to get into the American market. But its preparations have been delayed until June of this year.
General Motors and Volvo Cars export Chinese-made vehicles to the United States. China’s BYD Auto sells battery-powered buses to American transit companies.
Other Chinese brands have declared U.S. sales strategies but are having hard time to meet safety and emissions standards.
HAAH of Irvine, California, states it will sell Geely-designed autos under the Vantas brand name. The company is going to develop a U.S. dealership network and have flexible online sales. HAAH will be recruiting dealers at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention, which begins later this week in Las Vegas.
Chery and HAAH are checking sites for a U.S. factory but have not made a decision, the company stated. It is thinking about existing buildings along with undeveloped sites.
At first, the SUVs will be assembled from kits to hit HAAH’s on-sale target date. But the plant will shift to full manufacturing over time, HAAH stated. The company didn’t provide an estimate of how many workers the factory will hire.
HAAH has a partnership with Chinese automaker Zotye Auto, which prepares to start selling vehicles in the United States in this year.
