Irvine has added another notable carmaker to its ranks.
Zotye USA, a newly created affiliate of Zotye Automobiles of China that’s looking to become the first Chinese automaker to sell vehicles under its own brand name in the U.S., last week said it has established its headquarters in the Spectrum area of the city.
The company is leasing about 13,500 square feet at 29 Parker, a two-story office just off Bake Parkway. The building is owned by Irvine Co.
The Zotye USA office is about a mile north of the headquarters of Orange County’s largest car company by local employee count and which also has China ties, Karma Automotive LLC; Karma’s offices are also off Bake Parkway.
The new Zotye USA headquarters is about three miles from another notable Irvine Co. tenant, Mazda North American Operations, which has its operations at the 200 Spectrum Center tower.
Zotye USA is a wholly-owned subsidiary of HAAH Automotive Holdings, and will serve as the domestic distributor for Zotye Automobiles of China. Zotye USA will handle all sales, distribution, parts, and services for Zotye vehicles in the U.S.
The vehicles will initially be imported from China. They will be sold in the U.S. by a network of franchised new vehicle dealers, according to the company.
T600 on Deck
Its first offering in the U.S. will be the T600, a small crossover SUV vehicle, also known as CUV.
The T600 was unveiled last month at the 2019 Shanghai Auto Show. The U.S.-market version will have a 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine and six-speed automatic transmission, according to news reports from the event. Pricing hasn’t been announced; the company has indicated the cars could run about 20% below their competitors.
A midsize crossover and a sedan would come next.
Such products would likely compete domestically with cars such as the Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, and Nissan Rogue, news reports said. Those types of vehicles sell in the $25,000 range.
Local Ties
HAAH had been in a smaller Lake Forest office, but said last week it would be moving to the new Parker location. It was recently formed to “advise foreign auto manufacturers” on operating in the U.S., according to state records.
Its distributor deal with Zotye—pronounced Zoh-tay—was first announced last November.
The “original office was located nearby and it was always our plan to keep the headquarters of HAAH and Zotye USA in Southern California,” Duke Hale, chairman and chief executive of HAAH Automotive Holdings and Zotye USA, said in a statement.
“Irvine provides us with a very desirable location for employees, a highly educated labor pool to draw from as we grow, excellent transportation options throughout the U.S. and China, and great neighborhoods for our employees to live in.”
It “will also prove to be an excellent location for Zotye USA as we prepare to begin selling the first Zotye CUV in less than two years, Hale said.
Hale has lengthy experience in the domestic automotive industry, including management positions with Isuzu Motors America Inc., Mazda North American Operations, and Jaguar Land Rover North America LLC, all of which have or have had significant operations in Orange County in recent years.
Other HAAH executives include Senior Vice President and Chief International Relations Carson Zhang, who was founder and president of the US-China Guangdong Chamber of Commerce; Chief Information Officer Yvonne Burkhouse, who previously served as IT director of applications development for Mazda North American Operations; and Senior VP of Sales Bob Pradzinski, who worked more than 20 years for Fountain Valley-based automaker Hyundai Motor America Inc., last serving as vice president of national sales.
‘Tariff or Not’
The move to the 29 Parker office has already begun, with the management team putting the offices to use immediately upon the facility’s completion, according to the company.
“We’re a startup company, built on speed, high-technology systems, a love of vehicles, and the hardest working people I’ve ever seen. The minute there was a desk in the offices, someone was sitting at it, working at a hundred miles an hour,” Hale said.
Hale last month told trade publication Automotive News that Zotye USA’s retail recipe includes a no-frills sales process, undercutting rival Asian brands on price and freeing dealers from demands that they build overly ornate dealerships.
The company claims to have about 60 dealers signed up to date, and aims for about 100 once the T600 goes on sale.
As to whether the company would be impacted by the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China, Hale said Zotye’s cars would be coming to the U.S., “tariff or not.”
Car Land
Other upstart carmakers grabbing space in Irvine of late include GAC Motor, a 10-year-old carmaker that’s a division of China’s Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group Motor Co.
It said in January it would set up its North American sales operations in Irvine.
The Irvine location will handle branding, marketing, product planning and financial affairs for GAC Motor, according to the company; a specific address for the office was not immediately disclosed.
Also in the area—Michigan-based electric car company Rivian Automotive LLC, which is building an all-electric pickup truck. It has a research and development facility in Irvine.
The 19,000-square-foot office held about 100 employees as of late last year; Rivian has since gotten major funding deals both with Amazon and Ford.
