A Chery Exeed Exlantix ES electric sedan has been filmed in Dollard-Des Ormeaux, a suburb of Montreal, carrying an Ontario plate — the latest sign that the Chinese automaker is actively scouting Canada's market ahead of an expected launch later this year.The sighting follows earlier appearances of Chery-branded vehicles in Toronto, where Omoda & Jaecoo models and Exeed units have been photographed near the Don Valley Parkway in recent months. The Montreal appearance extends Chery's pre-launch footprint into Quebec — one of the two provinces, alongside British Columbia, that analysts expect the company to prioritize when retail sales begin.Reddit post of Chery Exlantix ES (Reddit @IronLover64)The backdrop is Canada's January 16, 2026 tariff deal with China, brokered by Prime Minister Mark Carney, which cut the duty on Chinese-built electric vehicles from 100 percent to 6.1 percent — the standard most-favoured-nation rate — under a quota of 49,000 vehicles per year. The annual ceiling is set to grow to 70,000 units by 2030. The first allocation of 24,500 permits covers March 1 through August 31, 2026. Chery joins BYD (HKG: 1211) and Geely as the three Chinese automakers confirmed to be targeting consumer sales in Canada before year-end.Chery has moved quickly since the deal closed. The company began recruiting Canadian staff as early as January 2026, flew nearly two dozen prospective Canadian dealers to the Beijing Auto Show in late April, and has since shipped test vehicles to Ontario.The Ontario plate on the Montreal vehicle suggests it is one of those units, dispatched from a testing base in the greater Toronto area to assess driving conditions across different regions of the country. The Exlantix ES is the flagship sedan of Chery's premium Exeed sub-brand, sold internationally. The 2025 model measures 4,945 mm long, 1,978 mm wide and 1,467 mm tall, with a 3,000 mm wheelbase that places it firmly in the full-size segment. A drag coefficient of 0.205 Cd ranks among the lowest of any current production sedan.Chery Exlantix ES interior (Exeed)The car is built on an 800-volt architecture shared across the Exlantix platform, enabling DC fast charging at up to 420 kW — sufficient to replenish the shorter-range variant from 30 to 80 percent in approximately nine minutes.Two CATL battery configurations were offered at the May 2025 Chinese launch: a 77 kWh pack with 680 km (422 miles) of CLTC range and a 100 kWh pack rated at 710 km (441 miles). The dual-motor all-wheel-drive variant delivers 345 kW and 634 Nm, with 0–100 km/h acceleration in 3.9 seconds. A 2026 update revealed in November 2025 introduced a 97.7 kWh CATL battery extending the top-spec range to 860 km (534 miles) on the CLTC cycle. Interior highlights include a 16-inch floating touchscreen, an augmented-reality head-up display, a Bose audio system, and frameless doors with flush handles.In China, the 2025 Exlantix ES is priced from 189,800 CNY (c. $37,900 CAD) to 269,800 CNY (c. $53,880 CAD) across three trims. Canadian pricing has not been announced, and Chery has not confirmed which variant or model year it intends to bring to market.The company is still working through Transport Canada certification — a process that typically adds several months to a launch timeline regardless of how advanced the underlying vehicle is.Whether the Exlantix ES leads Chery's Canadian rollout or plays a supporting role to the more affordably positioned Omoda and Jaecoo models may depend on how quickly those certification hurdles clear and whether Chery decides to lead with volume or with brand positioning in a market that has yet to receive a Chinese premium EV at scale.Conversion rate: 1 CNY = 0.20 CAD as of May 6, 2026
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