SEPTEMBER 14, 2020 • 3 HAAH’s vehicles will be based on Chery’s Exeed The HiPhil X from and Tiggo lineups, which include the 4, shown. Human Horizons HAAH adds budget brand An unnamed concept from from Chery Volkswagen’s ID series to U.S. plan A recent teaser of the Voyah i-Land Startup in nal stages EV concept of search for plant site Laurence Iliff [email protected] LOS ANGELES — e California startup HAAH Motor Holdings is nalizing plans for its second U.S. crossover brand based on existing models Nissan’s upcoming Ariya from Chinese automaker Chery Automobile Co. AUTOMOTIVE NEWS ILLUSTRATION HAAH CEO Duke Hale told Automotive News last week that it will add a mainstream brand to be called T-GO to its U.S. business plan. HAAH previously announced that it will market a brand called Vantas, consisting of “near premi- Global automakers are Arcfox Alpha-T um” vehicles designed by Chery but built in the growing their EV portfolios United States and sold through U.S. and Canadian for the Chinese market. dealers. Hale said both sets of vehicles will be built at a U.S. manufacturing site that HAAH is now seeking. He said the company is in the nal stage of its search for an abandoned man- ufacturing site to transform in- PRESSURE’S ON to its assembly plant. e Americanized brands will Beijing auto show to highlight competition for local EV makers be based on Chery’s upscale Ex- Yang Jian to notice a wave of global competition eed marque and its mass-mar- [email protected] A show at last heading to local showrooms. ket Tiggo lineup that it sells in HANGHAI — Global automak- What: Beijing Motor Show – Auto Nissan Motor Co. said last week it will China. Hale said the technolo- ers will be exing their muscle China showcase its upcoming Ariya EV, which gy-sharing agreement for T-GO in China’s electric vehicle mar- Where: China International the Japanese automaker is calling its Hale: T-GO deal is expected to be nalized in the ket in the next few years. And Exhibition Center, Beijing most important new product. It will be fourth quarter this year. Sthe auto show in Beijing will give Chinese the rst time the electric crossover will done in principle When: Sept. 26 to Oct. 5 HAAH is simultaneously consumers a glimpse of what’s coming. Original planned start: April 3 be shown publicly outside Japan after building a dealer network and showing a T-GO ve- China has seen a swarm of local EV its global debut in Yokohama in July. hicle to potential franchisees during its current startups as the government encouraged makers and international brands is be- Nissan currently assembles only one U.S. road show to recruit more dealers. e rst zero-emission transportation. But ginning to simmer. EV model in China — the battery-pow- T-GO model to go on sale will be a compact cross- those companies mostly have been Only a few automakers have tipped ered Sylphy compact sedan. e Ariya, over, followed by at least two more models by smaller ventures. e industry’s global their hand on what products they in- expected to go on sale in China in late 2024, the company said. giants have been slower to create EV tend to display at the Beijing show, set 2021, is one of several new EVs Nissan “ e Vantas deal is all signed, sealed and deliv- portfolios there. to begin Sept. 26 after a ve-month de- ered,” Hale said . “ e T-GO deal is done in princi- e competition between local auto- lay. But Chinese show goers are certain see BEIJING , Page 34 ple and we’re working through the legal terms,” Hale said . “So think of Vantas as near-premium and think of T-GO as mass market.” T-GO will compete at the lower end of the mar- ket against mainstream Asian brands, but at a sig- ni cant sticker-price discount compared to simi- lar models from its rivals, he said. GM ghts dualed rural showroom “ e vehicles will be 15 to 20 percent below the target new-car competition — for both Vantas and Iowa dealership group show danger of “irreparable harm” if the com- T-GO,” Hale said. “If I were Hyundai or Kia or Maz- peting brands continue in the same building. da or Volkswagen or Mitsubishi or Nissan, I’d be moved FCA brands into “KAR is pleased with these results and in par- afraid.” ticular the broader e ect the decisions will same store to cut costs have with respect to dualing in Iowa and on the see HAAH , Page 34 Hannah Lutz viability of a trademark claim that a manufac- [email protected] turer may bring in response to dualing,” KAR’s General Motors is trying to stop a dealership lawyers said in a statement. “A trial on the mer- group in rural Iowa from selling Chevrolets and its will follow.” CORRECTIONS KAR Auto Group says it displays GM and FCA Cadillacs in the same showroom as Jeeps and GM told Automotive News that KAR’s agree- information on opposite sides of the store. A story on Page 16 of this issue should have Rams, but the group says state law trumps GM’s ment with GM requires it to meet standards said Volkswagen plans to sell the Tarek cross- objections and that separating the store into two GM says a dual showroom violates the deal- including a minimum amount of space dedi- over in South America next year. again could put one of them out of business. ership group’s franchise agreement, but KAR cated to Chevy and Cadillac. An article about LMP Automotive Holdings A federal judge last month denied GM’s re- argues that a 2010 Iowa law gives it “an unfet- “GM’s standards — comparable to those of Inc. on Page 3 of the Sept. 7 issue cited an erro- quest for a preliminary injunction against KAR tered right” to consolidate the stores’ opera- other manufacturers — are designed to en- neous revenue forecast. e correct projected Auto Group of Decorah. Decorah Chevrolet-Ca- tions and that at least 32 other GM stores in able e cient dealership operations, and pos- annual revenue for LMP should the company dillac and Decorah Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram Iowa were dualed with other brands when it itive customer experience and brand image,” increase its holdings to include about 50 deal- had been 180 feet apart until being combined in made the change. erships is as much as $3 billion. the GM facility this year to reduce overhead. U.S. District Judge C.J. Williams said GM didn’t see GM , Page 34 .