China has been rapidly accelerating its EV development programs over the last couple of years, and the technology it’s been showcasing has had many manufacturers in the West worried. But on the surface, it doesn’t appear to have cracked the US market, with tariffs not helping it enter the territory.
But beneath the surface, there are actually quite a few Chinese cars on the roads in the USA than you’d initially believe. In fact, there are a surprisingly large number of them already in the country; they don’t come from the brands that you would expect them to. In fact, it might well come as a shock to learn who has sold them.
Brands such as Buick, Volvo, Polestar, and Lincoln have all sold vehicles in the United States connected to China. So it isn’t quite the same as a BYD, NIO, or a Jaecoo, but dig even deeper and the connections to China become apparent.
These Are the Chinese Cars You Can Find in the United States
Domestic Chinese brands like BYD and NIO have not yet broken into the American market. Tariffs and strained political relationships can be partially to blame for that, but the brands also haven’t resonated with the American public. Yet without realizing it, there are cars with connections to China that you can find in America.
Take the Lincoln Nautilus, for example. This large SUV entered its second generation in 2023, and originally it was intended for the Chinese market, where Lincoln has a massive presence. But in April 2023, the North American version was revealed, and it made its way to America in early 2024, directly imported from China after being boiled at a joint venture facility.
The Polestar 2 is another great example of this, an EV that many think is a Volvo, and is built back in the country’s native home of Sweden. But it is in fact built at the Luqiao CMA Super Factory, located in Zhejiang, China. Again, it doesn’t carry a Chinese name, but it is very much a Chinese-built car, with it easy to forget how much influence the country has.
Chinese-Built Cars Are Very Prominent in North America
Take a good look at sales data, and you can see that Chinese-built cars are way more prominent in the USA than you may initially think. Volvo, Polestar, Lincoln, and Buick sold nearly 200,000 cars in America in 2024-2025 combined. So that is around 200,000 Chinese-made cars on American roads without even realizing it.
Buick might be the brand with the greatest presence in China among American automotive manufacturers. At the time of writing, there are 11 Buick models on sale in China, compared to just four in the United States. One of these is the Envision, a compact crossover SUV exclusively built in China by the SAIC-GM joint venture, and one that sells well in America, according to GoodCarBadCar.
This venture is between General Motors and SAIC Motors, selling Chinese-built American-branded cars in the country, before exporting them to other markets such as North America. The Envision is currently bucking the trend when it comes to tariffs, and still sells remarkably well in the United States. It’s likely that most of Buick’s customers don’t actually realize the crossover isn’t built in the brand’s homeland.
What This Means for the American Automotive Industry
So in short, China hasn’t directly imported its own cars to the United States. But what is on American roads are effectively export versions of Chinese cars, but carrying the name of an American or European brand. With a trusted name behind them, buyers have felt more than happy to part with their hard-earned cash in order to own one of the cars.
But don’t expect to suddenly see brands like BYD in the United States. High import tariffs, worries over cybersecurity, and political barriers are likely to keep true Chinese cars out of America for a lot longer yet. At the moment, Europe doesn’t have that problem, with BYDs seen regularly in countries such as the United Kingdom. Yet despite this, we can clearly see that China has had an impact on the American automotive market.