If we had $20 for every time we heard that a Chinese automaker was going to start sales of its cars in the U.S. "next year," or "in two years," we'd probably have enough money to buy a used Chery QQ.

The latest Chinese automaker promising to begin sales of its cars in the U.S. within a year is Zotye (pronounced Zo-tay), Automotive News reports, aiming for a 2021 launch.

But there's something different about Zotye versus all the other Chinese automakers that have been promising to launch in the U.S. for the past 20 years: Zotye has signed dealers in 100 regional markets in the U.S. and has already closed the dealer recruitment process in cities like Tampa, Florida; Las Vegas; Austin, Texas; Atlanta; and Houston, according to Automotive News. By the time it opens the dealerships, it plans to cover 250 vehicle markets. And those regional markets span the whole country—the automaker won't confine itself to the two coasts, which have traditionally been the launch points for foreign automakers, and aims to have a network of 325 dealer locations down the road.

What will be the first model that Zotye plans to offer stateside?

It's a compact crossover called the T600, expected to be priced well below competitors such as a Kia and Hyundai. Power will come from a turbocharged 1.6-liter inline-four, paired with a six-speed automatic transmission.

Rumors regarding the Zotye T600 being the launch model in the U.S. have swirled for the past year, and the T600 is expected to be followed by a sedan and a midsize crossover.

Zotye

The bigger piece of news, aside from the T600, is that Zotye has advanced further in the launch process of a dealer network than other Chinese automakers before it. It already has a headquarters in Lake Forest, California, U.S. executives, a staff and now dealer agreements spanning over a dozen states.

"We’re really pleased, though not surprised, that the milestone of signed appointments for 100 markets has been reached earlier than we first estimated," said Duke Hale, chairman and chief executive officer of Zotye USA. "Dealers are hungry to be part of our new, disruptive method of selling vehicles to consumers in a low pressure, high satisfaction, no haggle, highly efficient environment. Combine a dealer friendly, transparent environment with an SUV that will have an extremely high level of safety equipment, great quality and durability, outstanding styling and a very attractive price, and it’s no surprise we are beating our earlier plan."

It remains to be seen if Zotye can succeed in a consumer environment that is favoring large premium and luxury crossovers—Zotye intends to fill that niche soon enough when it comes to vehicle size. The price points the automaker is aiming for should help it set itself apart in a landscape where cars are becoming more and more expensive.

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