Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
China’s GAC Group and the tech giant Huawei on Saturday extended their partnership in smart vehicle technology, and aim now to launch a new premium electric vehicle (EV) brand.
GAC announced in October, at the Paris Auto Show, that it is expanding to Europe next year despite the recent extra tariffs imposed by the European Union on imported EVs from China. The Aion V, an SUV from its brand Aion, will be the first model to launch in the European market.
The new EV brand will join GAC’s existing Trumpchi, Aion, and Hyptec lineups, and will target the premium segment.
Huawei has also several brands together with established carmakers. Maextro is the luxury NEV brand Huawei created with JAC, Aito with the Seres Group, Luxeed with Chery group and Stelato.
GAC Group said the collaboration would focus on product development, marketing, and ecosystem services to deliver advanced smart vehicle experiences.
“The new brand will serve as a platform for GAC Group and Huawei to leverage their respective strengths, focusing on cooperation in product development, marketing, and ecosystem services to deliver advanced intelligent experiences to users,” GAC said in a statement.
EV was invited last month to visit GAC’s Advanced Design Center in the Italian city of Milan 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 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.
About 430 designers work for China’s GAC Group across four Design studios spread across Italy, the United States, and China.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
