Politicians on both sides of the aisle want to stop Chinese vehicles from entering the United States.
But more than 100 Chinese automakers, auto technology companies and parts suppliers are already in the U.S., according to a study by Dan Insights, a consultancy focused on the electric vehicle and self-driving markets. A small number of Chinese companies are looking for ways to invest in the country, even as the United States imposes a 100% tariff on EVs from the country and considers rules to ban Chinese connected cars from American roads.
Chinese giant BYD will manufacture the buses in California, and Chinese battery maker CATL has a licensing agreement. ford motor We will provide technology and services to a battery manufacturing business in Michigan.
One company in a particularly advantageous position is Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. As is well known, Geely already has significant investments in three automakers operating in the United States. volvo cars, Polaris and lotus — and small stakes in luxury manufacturers Mercedes-Benz and Aston Martin.
geely advantages
Lotus, Polestar and Volvo all provide Geely Holding with dealer networks in the U.S., which is a key asset, said Tu Le, founder of auto consultancy Sino Auto Insights.
“Don’t underestimate how important the dealer network and the service infrastructure that needs to support it is because that’s not a non-trivial task that an automaker that doesn’t have a presence in the U.S. needs to solve,” Lee said.
Geely may also own U.S. factory production capacity through its Volvo shares.
The Volvo plant near Charleston, South Carolina, manufactures both Volvo and Polestar vehicles. Sam Abuelsamid, vice president of market research at Telemetry Insights, said the plant is capable of producing about 150,000 vehicles, but only produced about 18,500 in 2025, citing MarkLines data. Volvo announced that it will add production of its hybrid SUV “XC60” in the United States, resulting in an annual production of approximately 45,000 units.
Volvo wants to expand its operations in the United States. Luis Rezende, the company’s Americas president, told CNBC in December that Volvo imports about 95% of the cars it sells in the United States. The company plans to increase sales in the United States from approximately 122,000 units to approximately 200,000 units in 2025. Rezende said Volvo wants 50 to 60 percent of that increase to be American-made.
According to Business Insider, Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson reportedly said late last month that he was open to using it in Chinese cars.
“Putting production there actually reduces costs or amortizes fixed costs over more units,” Lee said.
Expanding into the US?
The name Geely may refer to the holding company that owns shares in Volvo, Polestar, etc., or to listed Chinese subsidiary automaker Geely Automobile, which consists of Chinese brands Zeekr, Lynk & Co, and brand Geely.
Analysts say Geeker is likely to be the first among Chinese brands to expand in the United States. already, waymo is using Zeekr vehicles as its self-driving vehicle platform in San Francisco. The company will continue to use the Jaguar I-Pace and will also use vehicles from Hyundai and Toyota. Waymo declined CNBC’s request for comment.
“Zeekr executives have said they want to bring the Zeekr brand to the U.S. market,” Abuelsamid said. “Among the Geely Group brands, that is the brand with the most potential.”
The company may be in the best position, but it’s not completely isolated, Lee said. Stellantis The company, which owns the Jeep, Ram, Dodge and Chrysler brands, has a roughly 20% stake in Chinese automaker Leap Motor.
“There’s another opportunity to badge existing vehicles like Fiat and vehicles that are familiar to Americans, and the infrastructure is already in place,” Lee said.
Despite strong bipartisan opposition to Chinese automakers, President Donald Trump has signaled that he will abide by Chinese automakers’ production in the United States.
“If they want to come in and build factories and employ you and employ your friends and neighbors, that’s great,” the president said of foreign automakers in a January speech at the Detroit Economic Club. “We like that. Let’s get China to come. Let’s get Japan to come. They’re building factories and will continue to build them, but they’re using our labor.”
