Once upon a time, Japanese cars were seen as an exotic and quirky product that could never take on the might of Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. Right now, Chinese EVs are in a similar place.

“Corolla, New Economy Car, Is Shown Here by Toyota,” the New York Times yawned in a 1968 headline, introducing history’s best-selling automobile to the US market. Four years later, another piece noted with idle curiosity that Honda Motor Co. — “primarily a motorcycle name in the United States” — was starting to sell “diminutive” four-wheelers as well.