Chery wants to build up a Canadian sales network to secure a share of the 49,000 Chinese-made electric vehicles Canada is prepared to let into the market each year at lower tariff rates, Chery chair Yin Tongyue told Bloomberg. The delegation of about two dozen dealers is also invited to Chery’s headquarters in Wuhu, about 1,100 kilometres south of Beijing. (Bloomberg)

Talking point: The Canadians are among about 5,000 Chery invitees to the auto show, which began Friday. The company is China’s third-biggest automaker, behind BYD and Geely, with 2.63 million vehicles sold last year. That puts it between Ford and General Motors in scale. Prime Minister Mark Carney agreed, during a visit to Beijing in January, to let 49,000 Chinese-made EVs into Canada at a 6.1 per cent tariff rate, exempting them from 100 per cent tariffs Canada applied in 2024 to align with U.S. policy. The move was meant to protect the shared North American auto industry, before President Donald Trump fractured that unity.