Chinese automaker Guangzhou Automobile Group Company (GAC) displayed three crossover SUVs at the Detroit auto show including a battery electric model named GE3.
This is the second time in the past three years the company had a display at the show, and is the first time any Chinese car company was on the show’s main exhibition floor rather than in the basement.
GAC said it expects to enter the U.S. market within the next three years, following the opening of a research and development center either in California or Michigan Motor Trend reported.
The company believes it can become the first Chinese automaker to enter the U.S. marketplace, according to company President Feng Xingya.
“For the export of our products I hope it will be by 2018, he told reporters through a translator.
“But undoubtedly, we will export our products into the U.S. no later than 2019.”
Using the brand name Trumpchi, the GE3 will go on sale in China in June.
The compact size GE3 is slightly smaller than Chevrolet’s new all-electric Bolt and slightly larger than the Nissan Leaf EV.
A permanent magnet synchronous electric motor rated at 161 horsepower and 214 pounds-feet of torque directs power to the front wheels through a single-speed transmission.
The motor receives electricity from a 47-kWh lithium ion battery pack that provides around 135 miles of real world driving range, and can be charged up to 80 percent in less than 30 minutes when using a fast-charging system, the company said.
Also shown was the Trumpchi EnSpirit concept crossover with a plug-in hybrid powertrain featuring a cloth roof styled like a four-door coupe.
The vehicle most likely to first reach our shores is the GS7 five-passenger all-wheel drive SUV that is roughly the size of a Ford Edge, and goes on sale in China next month.
The GS7 employs a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with 198 horsepower and 236 pounds-feet of torque and a six-speed automatic transmission.
Whichever vehicle comes first, it will have to meet U.S. safety and emissions standards, something that no Chinese automaker has been able to accomplish.
GAC partners with Fiat Chrysler, Honda and Toyota in China and delivered 380,000 vehicles last year, making it the number five Chinese brand in the domestic market.