Car site Edmunds tests a $25K Chinese hybrid SUV and issues warning to US automakers: Technology is terrific

Popular car-shopping website Edmunds put a Chinese vehicle through a series of rigorous tests for the first time, and Editor-in-Chief Alistair Weaver came away with a notable impression: US automakers have good reason for concern.While Chinese cars are effectively banned in the US, Edmunds wanted to test one because of growing US consumer interest in the affordable, feature-packed vehicles.It got its hands on a Geely Galaxy M9 — an extended-range SUV hybrid starting at about $25,000 in China — and put the vehicle through its full battery of testing to measure driving range, acceleration, braking and other performance characteristics.Many of the M9’s features are “ahead of the vehicles that we’re driving in the US,” Weaver said after driving the vehicle around Edmunds’ Los Angeles-based test track.

“The technology is terrific.”A recent survey from Cox Automotive showed US consumers are increasingly open to Chinese-brand vehicles, which are being kept out of the market by regulations, lawmaker opposition and tariffs around 100%.Some consumers are even scheming ways to get Chinese models over the border from Mexico, where they’re prevalent, or Canada, where their presence is likely to grow after Canada eased trade barriers.Geely said it provided the vehicle to Edmunds to demonstrate its global technological capabilities rather than signal a push to break into the US market.

“Geely continuously evaluates global markets, but our current commercial focus for the Galaxy M9 remains on China,” a spokesperson said.Edmunds got access to this vehicle after connecting with Geely executives at the CES trade show earlier this year, Weaver said.While new Chinese-brand cars can’t be imported and sold, Edmunds can legally borrow the vehicle from Geely and drive it on US roads.Its staff drove the model around for about three weeks in everyday scenarios, like going to the grocery store, in addition to conducting a 227-point evaluation of its pe...