Zotye T600: Another Chinese Vehicle Promised for North America

Several Chinese automakers including Geely, BYD, GAC and others have promised in recent years to enter the North American market by the time this decade is over. However, we have yet to see any of them. Homologation issues and the tariff dispute between the U.S. and China are not helping.

Earlier this year at the NAIAS in Detroit, GAC said its plan has been pushed back to the first half of 2020. More recently at the Seoul Auto Show, Songuo Motors introduced a new brand called NeuWai and confirmed through its website a North American distribution agreement that covers Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

• Also: Will Chinese Automobile Brand NeuWai Soon Land in Canada?
• Also: Chinese Automaker GAC Aims to Enter North America in 2019

Meanwhile, the BYD e6 has just been certified by Transport Canada and 2,000 taxi cars based on that model are scheduled to hit the road in Quebec within two years thanks to a company named E-Taxi.

Zotye, a lesser known Chinese manufacturer, is in the running, too, with a projected entry in North America around the end of 2020 or the first quarter of 2021. And we now know that its first vehicle will be the T600 crossover.

“This T600 is a perfect vehicle for the U.S. market and I’m very excited to announce it will be the first Zotye product to go on sale here,” said Duke Hale, head of Zotye USA. “The vehicle has excellent quality, outstanding safety features and will be very well equipped with a unique design that will make it popular with American buyers.”

That last point is highly debatable since Zotye is known for building cheaper copies of European vehicles and the T600 looks an awful lot like the previous-generation Volkswagen Tiguan. No technical details have been provided, either, but some expect the engine to be a 1.5-litre turbo mated to a six-speed automatic transmission.

Zotye has partnered with California-based HAAH Automotive Holdings to finalize the engineering and homologation process and set up a dealer network to go along with online sales. Already, Zotye claims to have signed agreements with dealers for 19 new-vehicle stores and projects to have around 300 stores in the top 100 U.S. markets. No word about Canada, however.

Following the T600, the company plans to bring to North America a sedan and another crossover, possibly the larger, Range Rover Evoque-inspired T700.