GAC Motor wins respect and attracts attention at the Detroit auto show

DETROIT, Feb. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- GAC Motor's display of its globalization drive and the latest models at the North American International Auto Show ticked all the right boxes as the leading automotive manufacturer in China built up intimacy with international customers, dealers and business partners.

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GAC put its best foot forward in reinforcing its ambitions of making cars for the world as it shed the light on its go-outbound campaign during the international auto exhibition in Detroit that concluded on January 25, 2015.

"After meticulous planning and careful studies, we start to create our own brands by adopting international standards," said Wu Song, general manager of GAC Motor. "We are confident that GAC Motor can churn out world-class vehicles to compete in the international market."

GAC exhibited three own-brand cars – a high-performance compact sport-utility vehicle GS4, a high-quality sedan GA6 and a high-tech concept model WITSTAR – at the Detroit show, which provided a vivid snapshot of the Chinese carmaker's strenuous efforts to explore the world market.

The GAC models and its globalization were well received by customers and dealers while drawing rave reviews from top international media attracted by the Chinese auto giant's expected move to consolidate overseas footholds.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Wu revealed GAC's plan to establish overseas plants as it initially targeted at setting up production facilities in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Wu said GAC would make a final decision on its first out-bound investment this year as was inspired by a flood of positive feedbacks about the company's own-brand vehicles outside China.

During the Detroit auto show, GAC's models and events attracted about 20 overseas media organizations including the Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. The news about GAC's participation in the exhibition were picked up and followed up by more than 200 media, a fresh sign of the Chinese auto manufacturer's increasing profile in the global market.

Information about GAC also widely spread via the internet as millions of internet surfers accessed news about the company's products and strategy through major US online social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter during the show.

GAC intends to launch a combined 20 own-brand vehicles including several energy-efficient cars by 2020 when sales of the models are expected to hit 1 million units.

Wu told the Wall Street Journal that 20 percent of the sales would derive from the foreign markets buoyed by GAC's enhanced development capabilities and consolidated tie-ups with foreign partners.

GAC pioneered the Chinese automotive industry's go-global campaign in tandem with its long-term cooperations with big-name automakers including Fiat Chrysler and Toyota.

The company launched its self-owned brand in 2010 and rose into global prominence buoyed by the successes of the high-performance models that are on par with the international products.

American dealers have shown keen interest in creating partnerships with GAC as they were convinced of the GAC models' quality and performance on the auto show.

"North American market is our dream for the future business development," said Yuan Zhongrong, vice chairman of GAC Group, parent of GAC Motor. "We would like everyone here to witness how this dream comes true."

GAC pledged that its own-brand vehicles would hit the US market before 2017 after dealers and customers endorsed the products during the auto show.

GAC has honed its image as a highly competitive player in the world's automotive industry as visitors to the show grasped a better understanding of the products' quality and the Chinese automakers' strengthened efforts on research and development.

"GAC is the best representative of China's rising power in the global automotive industry," said Wang Xia, chairman of the automotive committee under the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. "It will spearhead Chinese automakers' move to bring a sea change to the international auto market."

According to JD Power's quality study report on new vehicles in China released last October, GAC Motor was ranked the 14th among 62 Chinese and foreign brands, and it remained in the first place among all Chinese brands.

The whole line of GAC Motor's vehicles scored the 5-star in C-NCAP Crash Assessment.

SOURCE GAC Motor