GAC Barchetta Concept (2022)

GAC Barchetta Concept

The GAC Group (Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd.), one of China's most renowned car manufacturers, inaugurated GAC R&D CENTER EUROPE, its first design centre in Europe, in Milan. Located in Milan's Via Tortona design district, this creative space will become a global hub, a breeding ground for talent, ideas, and innovative projects.

Together with the studios in Los Angeles and Shanghai, GAC R&D CENTER EUROPE will form an ecosystem of global excellence, designing the car of the future. The Milan centre will host professionals practicing vehicle design, experience design, and visual branding: the team will be composed of a diverse group of "Made in Europe" talents and joined by the members of GAC Design studios in China and the United States. Therefore, the city of Milan will play a fundamental role as a facilitator of exchanges and sharing of best practices on a global level. Sealing an ideal bond with the city is the decision to locate its centre of excellence in what was once the studio of the late Giovanni Gastel, the internationally renowned Italian photographer, writer, and poet from Milan.

The opening ceremony took place in the presence of Luomei Shu, Commercial Counselor, Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in Milano, Jade Yin, Director of GAC GROUP Branding & Public Relations Department, Fan Zhang, General Manager of GAC R&D CENTER EUROPE and Vice President of R&D CENTER, Pontus Fontaeus, Design Director of GAC Advanced Design Los Angeles and Stéphane Janin, Design Director of GAC Advanced Design Milan.

On an opening day, GAC unveiled the innovative and avant-garde show car "Barchetta" which will be on display in the Milan space.

Design Background of Barchetta Concept

This show car is created to celebrate the opening of the new GAC Advanced Design Studio in Europe. "We mixed inspiration from Italian car design from the 70s and styling cues from GAC Time concept. It is a perfect combination of modern design cues and the high-tech EV technology of GAC. It demonstrates the agility of a fully digital studio process by completing a full-size show car within two months," said Stéphane Janin, design director of GAC Advanced Design Milan.

Every design team member in Milan participated in and supported the creation of "Barchetta" with excellent team spirit. "Small team allowed us to be agile and to make "one" voice when problem-solving is needed. We are also very focused on being efficient throughout the process," commented Stéphane.

Design Concept

GAC Barchetta, GAC Car Culture Series 1 (#carcultureseries), is the first project of the design team in Milan, and took an Iconic Italian type of vehicle as an inspiration to start with: it is a two-seat sports car without a roof and windshield.

The main concept of GAC Barchetta is to celebrate efficiency and simplicity that makes a design modern by splitting the project into three parts:

• Part 1: The chassis is ultra-flat and contains compact batteries similar in concept to a giant mobile phone.
• Part 2: The 'mono-material' aluminum body is lightweight, simple, and timeless, yet very distinctive.
• Part 3: Minimal interior features a compact drive-by-wire steering wheel and seats made from recycled plastic materials. The seats are suspended to a shell that weighs only 3 kg, and the tension on the straps provides strength for support.

"Our goal is to create design languages and concepts that reflect GAC's vision of a greener future by mixing car culture inspiration and advanced new design concepts. We will try to create and display innovative projects every year during the design week and hope it could help grow brand awareness in Europe and prepare AION launch here when the right time comes," said Stéphane Janin.

"Design is one of the most important values for the GAC Group and, in today's market, a key decision factor for customers," said Zhang Fan, general manager of GAC R&D CENTER EUROPE and vice president of R&D CENTER. "We are confident that this center will enable the meeting of creative resources and the development of cutting-edge ideas between China, Italy, and the rest of the world."