Chery will open its Canadian lineup with the Jaecoo ET, a rebadged premium electric SUV it plans to start selling next year pending certification, company executives told reporters at a briefing at its headquarters in Wuhu, China. No price has been set.
The midsize crossover is a version of a model already sold in China and some overseas markets, and it is part of a lineup that will include “an unspecified low-cost, entry-level car,” Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
The company “wanted to bring something premium” to “really show what our company and our brands can do,” said Lindsay Collins, a Brand Manager at Chery’s Canadian unit.
“We really do have a wide range of products,” she said.
Chery has not published a release on the model. Its Omoda & Jaecoo Canada website names no vehicle, price or retailer, and it notes that the vehicles it shows are intended for other markets.
A Premium Opener
The Jaecoo ET will be “among the first three models destined for the Canadian market,” with more to follow, AutoTrader reported on Tuesday, citing Chery.
The company weighed whether to launch first with the ET or the smaller Jaecoo 5 after working with consultants, the outlet said.
“We decided we would go high-tech, a little bit premium,” a Chery product development executive told AutoTrader, adding that a subsequent model would launch five months after the ET.
Collins told the outlet that “starting off with our best foot forward (is) our strategy.”
Chery chose a fully electric model first because EVs face fewer regulatory requirements than vehicles with combustion engines, which must also pass emissions testing, AutoTrader reported, citing company executives.
The federal approval process for the ET was in its final stages, the outlet said.
“We know how to develop the car to meet the toughest safety standards” around the world, Charlie Zhang, a Vice President at Chery responsible for international operations, told Bloomberg. “In Canada, the heating for steering wheels, windshields and the seats are super important.”
Exeed in China, Exlantix Abroad
The ET is sold in China by Chery’s upmarket Exeed brand as the Sterra ET. Outside China it carries the Exlantix name.
The Canadian version is “essentially a rebadged Exeed ET” with minor changes, including a front grille with vertical openings, The Car Guide reported on Tuesday.
It uses a 100 kilowatt-hour nickel-manganese-cobalt battery and two motors producing a combined 473 horsepower. The battery is supplied by CATL and its 800-volt architecture supports DC fast charging at up to 290 kilowatts.
The car will use a CCS1 charging port rather than Tesla‘s NACS connector, which the company said would be addressed in the coming years, according to The Car Guide.
The ET measures 4,980 millimeters (196 inches) long with a 3,000-millimeter (118-inch) wheelbase.
Chery made about 60 changes for Canada, including semi-concealed door handles in place of the deployable ones offered elsewhere, the outlet said.
The Car Guide listed standard battery preconditioning, heated front and rear seats, a heated steering wheel, heated mirrors, a rear camera washer and a heated windshield.
Range Not Yet Rated
Range estimates for the Canadian version were not available, AutoTrader.ca reported, and Chery has not published a Canadian rating.
The Car Guide said the car is expected to offer about 525 kilometers (326 miles) on the European WLTP cycle, or about 410 kilometers (255 miles) under U.S. EPA standards. It called those figures “preliminary.”
The 525-kilometer WLTP figure matches what RSA, which sells the Exlantix ET in Norway, lists for the all-wheel-drive version with a 100 kWh battery, 353 kilowatts and 290-kilowatt charging.
In China, the Sterra ET went on sale in May 2024 with ranges of 760 kilometers (472 miles) for a rear-wheel-drive version and 655 kilometers (407 miles) for the all-wheel-drive Ultra on the more generous CLTC cycle, according to launch specifications published by car portal Autohome.
The Ultra is rated at 413 kilowatts. The Canadian car’s 473 horsepower, about 353 kilowatts, is in line with the European tune.
No Price Yet
Chery has not announced Canadian pricing, trims or freight charges.
AutoTrader.ca said “official figures weren’t available” and that the SUV is “likely to cost at least $60,000,” or C$60,000 ($42,300).
Leasing programs are being developed with J.D. Power and financial institutions, The Car Guide reported.
Warranty terms are also still being set. “It’s going to be greater than five years,” Mark Vidic, the company’s Canadian Aftersales Director, told AutoTrader.ca, “but we’re still finalizing the terms of what the full duration will be.”
What Comes Next
Chery has not named the second model.
The Car Guide reported that it will be the Jaecoo 5, arriving a few months after the ET pending Transport Canada certification, and estimated its price at about C$35,000 ($24,700).
AutoTrader.ca said the follow-up model “will likely be the Jaecoo 5,” adding that no official announcement had been made, and wrote that the smaller Omoda 4 “will almost certainly follow.”
The ET itself is due in late winter or early spring, according to The Car Guide.
Chery’s two brands aim to start with around a dozen dealers in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, although about 40 have approached the company, Farzad Salehi, the Executive Vice President for the brands in Canada, told Bloomberg.
“We’re taking a calculated step,” Salehi said of Chery’s possible allocation under Canada’s import quota. “We want to see how much volume we can get.”
The Car Guide said in October that the company had a first-year goal of about 6,000 vehicles.
Charlie Zhang told Reuters on October 21 that the company was preparing a brand launch in Canada “early next year.” That was later than the “late 2026” date the brand had given on its new Canadian website in September.
Chery has also said it is weighing building cars in Canada. The company hosted Minister of International TradeManinder Sidhu at its Wuhu plant last week.
Not the First China-Built EV
The ET is Chery’s first named model for Canada, but China-built electric cars are already on sale there.
Tesla has sold the Shanghai-built Model 3 in Canada this year. It stopped taking orders for the two Premium versions on October 12, saying on its website that high demand had exhausted its import quota.
Polestar reintroduced the China-built Polestar 2 in Canada on June 3 at C$69,900 ($49,300). Production of the model in China has since ended.
Lotus‘ Wuhan-built Eletre SUV began arriving in Canada in July. Polestar and Lotus are both controlled by China’s Geely.
Geely, which plans to launch its own brand in Canada in 2027, named only the Geely E5 on its Canadian website in October.
The Quota
Canada agreed in January to allow up to 49,000 Chinese-made EVs a year at the 6.1% most-favored-nation tariff, the Prime Minister’s Office said. The quota replaced a 100% surtax imposed in October 2024.
The volume will increase by 6.5% a year, according to Global Affairs Canada. The share reserved for vehicles with a free-on-board price of C$35,000 or less rises from 10% in the second year to 50% in the fifth.
Importers had used 16,206 of the first year’s 49,000 permits as of the government’s November 6 report, leaving 32,794. Imports have stalled, with none recorded in October.
The first quota year ends on February 28. A spring launch would come after the second year begins on March 1, 2027, when the 6.5% growth rate lifts the limit to about 52,200 vehicles.
China-built vehicles are not eligible for Canada’s Electric Vehicle Affordability Program. It requires vehicles to be made in Canada or in a country with which Canada has a free-trade agreement.
The program offers up to C$5,000 ($3,500) for battery-electric vehicles in 2026, falling to up to C$4,000 ($2,800) from January 1, 2027, according to Transport Canada.
