Lotus has shipped the first batch of Chinese-made Eletre SUVs to Canada, becoming the first manufacturer to physically deliver vehicles into the country under the trade framework that opened in March.
The Geely-owned brand shared a video on Chinese social media platforms on Thursday showing 18 Eletre units being loaded at Shanghai port for shipment to Canada.
“Riding the wind, setting sail — establishing a new record for Chinese electric vehicle exports,” Lotus — which manufactured the SUVs at its Wuhan plant —wrote on its Weibo account.
“From rolling off the line at Lotus Cars‘ Global Intelligent Factory to powerfully heading overseas to Canada, letting the world see the strength of China’s intelligent manufacturing,” the company added.
The shipment is the first concrete delivery under the trade agreement Ottawa and Beijing struck in January, which replaced Canada’s 100% surtax on Chinese-made EVs with a 6.1% tariff under a quota of 49,000 vehicles per year.
The First Mover
Lotus had been positioning to be first across the line since the tariff deal was signed.
The brand was the first manufacturer to publicly react to the framework, issuing a press release one day after the agreement, saying the tariff reduction would bring the Eletre’s planned retail price down by approximately 50%.
“Canada has always been a strategically vital market,” CEO Feng Qingfeng said in January.
The CEO added that Lotus would “seize this opportunity to enhance investment in Canada to explore any potential tactical advantages and strengthen our footprint in the North American market.”
The Eletre officially launched in Canada on April 24, with a starting price of C$119,900 ($87,900) — down from the C$313,500 sticker on the only variant previously listed under the prior tariff regime.
The company said in March that Canadian deliveries were expected in the third quarter.
Background
Lotus is part of Chinese billionaire Li Shufu’s Geely empire, which also controls Volvo, Polestar, and Zeekr.
The Wuhan plant was officially completed in July 2022, with the first Eletre rolling off the line that month.
The facility is located in the Wuhan Economic Development Zone’s smart connected electric vehicle industrial park, covering an area of 1,526 mu — equivalent to 1.02 square kilometre.
Geely acquired Lotus in 2017, taking 51% ownership of the British brand including Lotus Cars and Lotus Engineering.
The Canadian launch was announced alongside a second product reveal at the Beijing Auto Show last week: the Eletre X Black & Gold Limited Edition.
The hybrid model is restricted to 78 units and marks the brand’s 78th anniversary.
It draws on Lotus’s motorsport heritage and was developed through integrated engineering teams in the UK and China.
Lotus said both launches “support Lotus Tech’s broader development across premium electrified segments, extending the brand beyond its traditional sports car base while maintaining its core engineering identity.”
A Race Against Rivals
Lotus is the first Chinese-built passenger EV brand to formally launch in Canada under the new trade framework — but it is not the only manufacturer attempting to capitalise on the quota.
Tesla moved most aggressively in the days before the Lotus shipment.
The company cut prices across its Model 3 lineup in Canada last Friday, with the new Premium Rear-Wheel Drive variant starting at C$39,490 ($28,900) — the cheapest Tesla vehicle ever sold in the North American market.
The pricing operationalised a supply chain shift announced in early March, when Tesla pulled all US-made Model 3 inventory from its Canadian website to begin importing the sedan from the Shanghai Gigafactory under the 6.1% tariff rate.
Tesla described the Premium RWD on X as “the most affordable it’s ever been.”
The Model 3 Premium RWD has an EPA-estimated range of 463 kilometres and accelerates from 0 to 100 kilometres per hour in 4.2 seconds.
The new entry price represents roughly a 50.6% reduction from the discontinued Long Range trim that previously anchored the lineup.
The Model Y, produced at Tesla‘s European factory to bypass US tariffs, this year became eligible for Canada’s C$5,000 EV Affordability Program rebate after being priced at C$49,990 — just C$10 below the programme’s cap.
Volvo and Polestar — both Geely-controlled and both already certified for the Canadian market — have also been widely seen as likely beneficiaries of the quota.
China-headquartered automakers without prior North American certification have also been moving.
Chery has positioned itself ahead of its larger Chinese rivals.
The first vehicles under Chery’s Omoda and Jaecoo sub-brands were spotted in Toronto earlier this month, signalling an imminent launch.
Both Omoda and Jaecoo are sub-brands of the Wuhu-based Chery Automobile Group, which has been hiring Canadian staff since January.
Geely Auto’s Toronto hiring, confirmed in late April, suggests the namesake brand is still defining its Canadian portfolio.
BYD, Chery, and Geely have all been confirmed as preparing for Canadian market entry by the year end, according to DSMA, a buy-sell advisory firm brokering discussions between Chinese manufacturers and Canadian dealers.
BYD has revealed its intention to build a manufacturing facility in the country, though Executive VP Stella Li said it would not be through a government-promoted joint venture with local companies.
The company plans to open twenty dealerships in Canada.
The Permit System Backstory
The Thursday shipment also marks the first concrete output of a permit system that had spent its first weeks generating no activity.
Two weeks after Canada began accepting import permits for Chinese-built EVs, not a single application had been processed as of March 12, according to a Global Affairs Canada spokesperson cited by The Globe and Mail.
The quota system, which opened March 1, allows up to 49,000 China-built EVs into Canada annually at the 6.1% tariff rate.
Under the framework, the first 24,500 vehicles can enter Canada between March 1 and August 31 on a first-come, first-served basis.
A second allocation opens in September.
The quota will rise to 70,000 units by the fifth year, with more than half required to be priced below C$35,000 ($25,300) by 2030.
In return, China agreed to slash duties on Canadian canola to approximately 15% from more than 80%.
The Eletre’s Canadian Pricing
The Eletre’s C$119,900 starting price represents a roughly 50% reduction from the only variant previously listed under the 100% tariff regime — the top-spec Carbon, which carried a C$313,500 sticker.
The standard Eletre had originally been introduced at C$126,800 ($92,700) when orders opened in April 2024.
The 100% tariff imposed later that year made the model commercially unviable at lower trim levels.
The Eletre is built on an 800V electrified architecture and reflects what Lotus described as its focus on “precision, control and driver engagement.”
The model has completed North American certification procedures.
The company currently operates six authorised dealerships in Canada, covering key cities including Toronto and Vancouver. However, the premium brand plans to expand to double it over the next months.
Lotus’s global retail network spans 210 stores across 61 countries.
The US Pressure Backdrop
Lotus’s Canadian arrival comes against a backdrop of growing US political pressure on Chinese EV access to North America.
Earlier this month, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer reaffirmed that Biden-era regulations banning certain Chinese vehicle software and hardware are working as intended.
The 100% tariff on Chinese EVs — originally quadrupled under the Biden administration — remains in place alongside the Trump administration’s broader tariff measures.
Canada itself has rejected a proposed Leapmotor knock-down kit assembly arrangement at Stellantis’s Brampton plant, signalling that genuine local manufacturing — rather than kit assembly — is required to qualify for any tariff workaround.
The country’s auto industry lobby, the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association, has endorsed Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre’s plan to scrap the Chinese EV quota entirely.
