Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
About 430 designers work for China’s GAC Group across four Design studios spread across Italy, the United States, and China.
The group, which includes brands such as GAC Motor, Aion, Hyptec, and Trumpchi, announced at the recent Paris Auto Show it is expanding to Europe next year despite the intention of the European Commission start soon impose extra tariffs on each imported EV from China.
EV was invited to visit GAC’s Advanced Design Center in Milan, Italy, and spoke with Fan Zhang (Vice President of GAC R&D Center), Stephane Janin (Senior Design Director of GAC’s Advanced Design Studio in Milan) and Benoit Jacob, the new Executive Director for the group’s R&D Design.
GAC’s R&D center was established in China back in 2006 aiming to serve as technical management department and the hub of the R&D System in GAC Group.
The design teams are split between Ideation —focused on creative aspects like exterior and interior design—and Execution, which handles the technical realization of design concepts.
GAC’s R&D center was established in China back in 2006 aiming to serve as technical management department and the hub of the R&D System in GAC Group.
The design studio in Los Angeles opened in 2018 and it was originally aimed at supporting the U.S. market expansion, which is currently on hold. The team is led by Pontus Fontaeus, who previously worked at Faraday Future as Chief Designer Interior Design for the company’s luxury debut model FF 91.
The Shanghai Studio, which also opened in 2018, was opened to capitalize on China’s growing design talent pool, it is led by Sandy Hartono, who worked previously at Honda, Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz where he met Fan Zhang in the early 2000s.
The studio, located in Milan’s Tortona district and led by former Renault and Nissan designer Stephane Janin, has nearly 20 designers from different backgrounds. The studio — which has a “GAC Café” area aimed to make the environment more familiar — celebrates its second anniversary this month.
When asked to give an example of a project where the different design teams competed, Stephane — who leads the Milan Studio — noted that competition is part of the job not only with the other three GAC studios but even within the studio in Italy.
“Any kind of project, such as the concept car. But every company is like that. If it’s not among design studios, anyway, it’s among the designers themselves within one studio,” he stated.
“For designers, there’s no assigned job. There’s always a competition to win this job, to win this project. So this makes design very special, makes designers very special”, Stephane added.
GAC has developed several concept cars over the last years which have quickly evolved into production models, often within two years.
One key example is the ENO.146, an electric concept model unveiled in 2019 with a drag coefficient of 0.146.
Elements of this concept were later incorporated into the production Aion S Plus, which launched in 2021.
The vehicle’s exterior was designed in LA, its interior in Shanghai, and the color, materials, and finish (CMF) work was done in Guangzhou, where the GAC Group is headquartered.
Asked about the decision process of selecting which studio is responsible for which design area, Fan Zhang
“For advanced projects or the show car projects, it’s rather easier. The decision-making is within the design [team], basically,” Zhang stated before comparing it with production cars.
“The real difficult thing is for the production projects because the production reflects the needs and then requirements from all kinds of regions, from product planning, from marketing, from customer research, budget, and other developments. So you have to listen to all of it, the opinion,” the Vice President of GAC R&D Center stated.
“And then finally, let the top leader to make the final decision based on all the needs and requirements, the comments and opinions,” he added.
GAC’s latest concept vehicle, the ERA, is another example of collaboration between the design studios.
Launched last year, at the Guangzhou Auto Show, the crossover SUV was designed across three studios. The exterior was developed in Milan, the interior in Los Angeles, and the CMF was finalized in Guangzhou.
GAC has recently appointed Benoit Jacob to join Zhang Fan on design and innovation development as the group prepares to arrive in Europe next year.
In 2003, Benoit Jacob moved to BMW. Seven years later, Benoit was appointed to lead the design of the sub-brand BMW i.
Later on, in 2016, the designer moved to the Hong Kong-based startup Byton where he stayed for five years before switching to Nio in 2021 as Vice President (VP) of Design for a “Strategic Project,” which later on became the company’s first sub-brand Onvo.
Asked about the motivation to join the GAC Group, Benoit mentioned the “creative power” the company gave him.
“I have been working for the last three decades as a designer, and I think we are very fortunate to have a job that is first of all a passion. I sometimes joke and say my wife thinks I’m doing it to do a hobby or kindergarten, and not doing a proper job. So really the motivation is this one,” Benoit said.
“I found in GAC the resources, the creative power to do even greater things. That’s basically what is the reason why I joined and will contribute to even push to the next level,” he added.
Next month, at the Guangzhou Auto Show, GAC will unveil a new fully electric model under its brand Aion.
Based on the teaser image shared by the company’s Design Team with EV on Wednesday, the model will be an electric hatchback with initial deliveries in China expected for next year with the arrival in the European market following in late 2025.
As it targets 500,000 vehicles sold outside China by 2030, the Group is considering setting up a technology center in Europe
In an interview with Reuters, Wei Haigang said GAC is “actively exploring” the possibility of manufacturing in Europe to mitigate the potential impact of steep tariffs, which vary by manufacturer.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
