Chery EVs land in Canada, Zeekr hires Toronto

Chinese EVs are no longer a hypothetical in Canada. They’re showing up in parking lots, in job postings, and in dealer recruitment trips. That matters because Ottawa only recently cracked open the door to Chinese-made EV imports after slapping them with a 100% tariff in 2024, and the first brands are already lining up to walk through it. Chery and Zeekr are the clearest signs yet that “planning to enter” has turned into real market prep. ### What actually moved this week? The new piece is visibility. Automotive News says Chery-branded Jaecoo E5 EVs have been seen in Ontario on manufacturer plates, and Zeekr has started recruiting in Toronto for launch-related jobs. That is a different stage from trademark filings or vague expansion talk — it means test vehicles, local staffing, and early commercial setup are happening on the ground. ### Which brands are we talking about? Chery is one of China’s biggest auto exporters, but it usually sells overseas through sub-brands like Omoda and Jaecoo. In Canada, the vehicle getting the most attention so far is the Jaecoo E5, an electric compact crossover. Zeekr is Geely’s more upscale EV brand — the same Geely group that also controls Volvo, Polestar, and Lotus. ### Why is this suddenly important? Because hiring tells you where launch work is being built. Zeekr’s Toronto postings cover the boring-but-essential functions that come before sales — legal, dealer development, marketing, aftersales, and commercial operations. That usually means a company is not just studying the market anymore. It is building the local skeleton it needs to sell cars, support dealers, and deal with regulators. ### Is Chery doing more than parking a few cars? Yes — turns out Chery has already started courting retailers. In late April, it brought nearly two dozen representatives from Canadian dealerships to the Beijing auto show as it worked to establish a sales network. That is the old-school part of market entry, and it matters because even a direct-sales EV brand still needs service, parts, and local confidence. ### Why can they enter now? Because Canada changed the trade framework. Early this year, Ottawa replaced the blanket 100% tariff on Chinese-made EVs with a quota system that allows up to 49,000 Chinese-manufactured EVs into Canada in 2026 at a much lower tariff. That does not guarantee any one brand an allocation, but it makes a launch economically plausible in a way it simply was not before. ### Where does Lotus fit in? Lotus is basically the proof of concept. The Globe and Mail reported in March that Lotus planned to be among the first to sell Chinese-made EVs in Canada under the new quota program, with the Eletre as the headline example. Lotus is useful here because it shows the channel is real — not just something Chery or Zeekr hopes will exist later. ### Why is privacy suddenly part of the car story? Because modern EVs are rolling data collectors. Canada’s privacy commissioner warned Parliament in April that connected vehicles gather location history, driving behaviour, and personal preferences, and that some of that data can be stored or transferred abroad. Mélanie Joly has also said the government is working on a framework to protect personal data collected by EVs as Chinese-made models prepare to enter the market. ### So what’s the bottom line? The headline is not that Chinese EVs have taken over Canada. It’s that the entry phase has become tangible. Cars are here, hiring has started, dealers are being courted, and Ottawa now has to manage two fights at once — cheaper EV competition and the politics of who gets the data.