Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Guangzhou Automobile Group, also known as GAC Group, has appointed Benoit Jacob to join Zhang Fan, the chief of the R&D center, on design and innovation development. During his time at BMW, Benoit was responsible for the design of the i3 and i8 models.
The designer, who started his career at the French carmaker Renault as an intern, joined the Volkswagen Group in 2001 where he helped to establish Audi’s design studio in Munich, Germany.
In 2003, Benoit Jacob moved to BMW where he worked, among other models, in the Megacity vehicle which later became the i3 model. In 2010, 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”.
The Group owns two self-owned brand car companies, GAC Motor and Aion. GAC counts also several joint ventures such as GAC Honda, GAC Toyota, GAC Hino, GAC BYD, and others.
GAC aims to achieve the production and sales volumes of over 5 million vehicles, with revenue of over 1 trillion yuan, equivalent to $141 billion.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
