Chinese Automaker Geely Becomes 1st to Enter the US Market with the Kandi K27 – A Disappointing Choice
After a long-anticipated wait, the Chinese automotive industry is finally ready to take on the U.S market. The first brand to enter is Kandi, which is backed by Geely, the company which bought Volvo and Polestar, and also has its own impressive lineup of vehicles.
With SUVs and pickup trucks dominating the US market, you would think the Chinese automaker will bring something of that caliber. Nope, unfortunately they bought something else – two compact Electric hatchbacks – the K23 and the K27.
The Cheapest Car on the Market
The main thing Kandi has got going for it is that its cars are small and cheap.
The Kandi K27 is the cheaper model of the two, it has a 114 combined EPA MPGe and a healthy 100 miles range coming from its 17.7-kWh battery pack fully charged. It seats four fully grown adults comfortably, the parking sensor and backup camera come standard, the interior is surprisingly roomy, fold down the back seat and you can comfortably fit a mini fridge in here.
With its price tag just under 10k dollars after incentives, the K27 is the cheapest new car you can currently buy in the U.S.
Although the car is designed for city daily commute and it has more than enough juice to cope with the busy city streets, it still does not change the fact that Americans do not like small cars. In 2020, sub-compact cars only make up less than 2% of the total market share and this is predicted to continue decreasing. Did Kandi make a strategic mistake, or it has considered all the possibilities?
Possibly with the US economy suffering and unemployment rate through the roof, the automaker is predicting that Americans change course and turn to more affordable sub-compact cars. But I doubt this is the case.
Hopefully Kandi Will Bring the Maple 30X
From the company’s Chinese website, we can see they are coming out with a compact SUV called Maple 30X in Mainland china, so hopefully they will bring it to the States soon rather than later as it would be a much stronger fit for the market.
What We’d Like to See from Chinese Automakers
The Chinese automotive industry has come a long way and Kandi is not a proper representation of the innovation that Chinese car makers have achieved.
Kandi’s parent company Geely, as well as automakers BYD and NIO all have some impressive SUV models that will rival anything available in the US market.
For example, the Geely HaoYue and NIO’s ES8 are more up to Americans’ speed, with their 3-row seating, futuristic look and more-than-competitive pricing, either of these cars would likely be a hit and we hope to see them entering the market in the near future.
