Chinese car company Chery Automobile Co. Ltd. is laying the groundwork to sell its electric vehicles in Canada, after last week’s announcement of a deal that will see Canada reduce tariffs on a limited number of Chinese-made EVs.

Chery is jockeying to be the first Chinese car company to sell mainstream passenger cars in Canada. Several Western brands, including Tesla and Volvo, manufacture cars in China, but homegrown Chinese car companies have yet to enter the Canadian market. So far, it has stuck mainly to taxis and buses rather than mass-market passenger cars.

The Globe and Mail spoke to three people with extensive experience in the Canadian auto industry who have all recently been contacted on LinkedIn by recruiters who say they are working on behalf of Chery.