The car, which is designed in Sweden, doesn’t widely advertise that it is manufactured in China. But its arrival on the U.S. market is a sign of China’s ambitions to become a major exporter in an industry it has never previously conquered — automobiles.

For all its success dominating other businesses, China took a back seat to foreign automakers in the gasoline era. Chinese consumers bought a lot of domestically manufactured cars, but often favored foreign brands such as Volkswagen, General Motors and Toyota over homegrown models. And while China became a big exporter of car parts, it didn’t manage to do the same with finished vehicles.

The arrival of the electric era is giving China another chance, because EVs have fewer parts and are easier to produce, at a time when component shortages are limiting EV supplies and creating an opening for companies that can deliver quickly. Chinese manufacturers have poured billions of dollars into developing an electric-vehicle industry, with heavy financial support from the…