{"id":803151,"date":"2026-07-15T08:56:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T08:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/803151\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T08:56:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T08:56:22","slug":"chinese-automaker-dongfeng-aiming-to-enter-canadian-market-displays-six-models-in-montreal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/803151\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese automaker Dongfeng, aiming to enter Canadian market, displays six models in Montreal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Dongfeng EVs and hybrids on display at a launch event in Montreal on Tuesday.Graham Hughes\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor Corp. is aiming to enter the Canadian market next year under a new pact between Ottawa and Beijing, but it\u2019s taking a soft-sell approach to build interest in its vehicles before they hit dealerships. <\/p>\n

The Chinese carmaker offered a sneak peak of its lineup in Montreal Tuesday, displaying six models at the Grand Quay in the city\u2019s Old Port. The company will also hold a cocktail event with VIPs Wednesday. It\u2019s possibly the first such prelaunch by a Chinese automaker in Canada. <\/p>\n

Dongfeng has earmarked two vehicles for import into Canada that are now undergoing federal certification: The Vigo mini SUV and the Box subcompact. Both are electric cars expected to retail for under $35,000. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing this step by step. The first thing is to get comments from the public,\u201d said Julie Mazorra Fernandez, director of North World Industry, which will distribute Dongfeng vehicles in Canada. \u201cWe really want to show that these are quality cars that are affordable.\u201d <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Julie Mazorra Fernandes next to a Dongfeng Vigo.Graham Hughes\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Early morning visitors to the site appeared unimpressed, but more curious onlookers soon arrived, and a Chinese manufacturing devotee or two. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just an absolute privilege for a mere mortal like me to see the forbidden fruit,\u201d said Tony Fong, a Chinese-Canadian student, alluding to the U.S.\u2018s effective ban on Chinese vehicles. <\/p>\n

Mr. Fong, whose last car was a Lexus RX 350, said he believes Chinese carmakers are \u201coutdoing domestic manufacturers\u201d on both price and quality, but he worries that Canada\u2019s low import quotas of Chinese vehicles will create an imbalance in supply and demand that will bid up their value. \u201cI\u2019m afraid we\u2019re going to have people buying these cars and then reselling them like Pokemon cards,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Lise Dubuc, a retired Montreal school principal, wandered over to the Dongfeng display with a group of friends and said she wouldn\u2019t hesitate to buy one. Price is her main motivator, but she said China has been building cars for long enough to get the reliability right, \u201cmaybe even more so\u201d than American brands. <\/p>\n

China\u2019s Geely to ship first Lotus EVs to Canada in July, ambassador says<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI see myself in this car without a problem,\u201d she said, pointing to a Dongfeng 007 grey sedan. Even in winter? \u201cSummer, winter, sure. They have winter in China too,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Canada imposed a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese EVs in October 2024, a protectionist measure bringing the country into alignment with Western partners seeking to shield domestic EV manufacturers. Under former president Joe Biden the U.S. had imposed its own 100 per cent tariff, while the European Union hit Chinese EVs with countervailing duties up to 35.3 per cent.<\/p>\n

However, with the election of President Donald Trump, the Carney government reversed course as it sought to reduce Canada\u2019s export exposure to the U.S. <\/p>\n

To mend fences with Beijing, Canada agreed in January to reduce the 100 per cent levy on China-made EVs and allow in some vehicles in return for China slashing retaliatory duties on Canadian shipments of canola and other agricultural products. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

The total volume of Chinese EVs allowed in under the quota will increase 6.5 per cent each year.Graham Hughes\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Thousands of Chinese EVs have already arrived on Canadian shores since the federal government established a quota system earlier this year. And staff with brands like BYD, Chery Automobile Co. Ltd. and Dongfeng have been testing vehicles under Canadian road and weather conditions and displaying models to analysts and journalists as they get set for wider rollouts. <\/p>\n

Canada now allows up to 49,000 vehicles to enter the country each year at a tariff rate of 6.1 per cent. Since May, 6,531 EVs have been imported from China under the quota, according to a running tally published by Global Affairs Canada. <\/p>\n

Of that amount, 2,430 vehicles had a price of $35,000 at the time they were loaded onto vessels in China. Other costs like freight, insurance and duties all get added on to the final bill in Canada. The remaining vehicles, including 21 SUVs, were above the $35,000 price point. <\/p>\n

The price will matter starting in the second year of the program, when 10 per cent of the quota will be reserved for Chinese EVs that come in under that $35,000 price measure, with the allotment for lower-price vehicles climbing to 50 per cent in year five. <\/p>\n

How Canada will prepare for Chinese EVs, according to our reporters<\/a><\/p>\n

The total volume of Chinese EVs allowed in under the quota will increase 6.5 per cent each year. <\/p>\n

Ms. Fernandez said Dongfeng is also eyeing the possibility of manufacturing in Canada and building other commercial ties. The carmaker has existing joint venture partnerships with Nissan Motor Co. and Stellantis N.V. for manufacturing in other markets. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a project with a long-term vision,\u201d Ms. Fernandez said. \u201cWe\u2019re here for Canada.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Global Affairs numbers don\u2019t provide direct insight into which automakers have taken advantage of the quota. Prior to the 100 per cent surtax, Tesla accounted for the majority of Chinese-made EVs sold in Canada. <\/p>\n

At the time, those vehicles qualified for rebates under the federal Incentive for Zero-Emission Vehicles program. But Ottawa scrapped that incentive program in the fall of 2025, replacing it with a new measure, the Electric Vehicle Affordability Program, in February. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Dongfeng EVs and hybrids on display at a launch event in Montreal on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":803152,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,45,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-803151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/803152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}