Chinese automobile manufacturer Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC Group), the parent company of GAC Motor, has begun construction of a large industrial park for electric and intelligent vehicles as part of its efforts to boost its electric vehicle business.
Located in Guangzhou’s Panyu district in China’s southern Guangdong province, the industrial park has a planned area of 5 square kilometers. More than 45 billion Yuan (US$6.5 billion) of investment, from both GAC Group and other enterprises that will locate there, are expected to be poured into the project.
The new electric vehicle plant, part of the industrial park which will provide GAC Motor with a production capacity of 200,000 units per year, is expected to be completed by the end of 2018 with a total investment of 4.69 billion Yuan (US$679 million).
With a focus on smart manufacturing, innovative technologies and the development of an environmentally-friendly town, the industrial park’s aim is to become a collaborative, intelligent, open, innovative, and green center of manufacturing for electric and intelligent vehicles. It is also plays a significant role in pushing forward GAC Motor’s global branding strategy.
“The planning and construction of this industrial park is a concrete step to implement the Chinese government’s green development goals for Guangdong and the national ‘Made in China 2025’ strategy,” said Yu Jun, General Manager of GAC Motor. “The move will help promote the development of the automobile industry and drive economic growth.”
GAC Motor unveiled its first pure electric vehicle, the GE3, at the 2017 North America International Auto Show this January, and released the new plug-in hybrid sedan GA3S PHEV and plug-in hybrid SUV GS4 PHEV at Auto Shanghai 2017 in April.
“In the coming five years, we will push out at least seven new electric vehicle models and cover three product series including pure electric, range-extending and hybrid.” said Yu Jun, “Our goal is for GAC Motor to take the lead in the EV business and achieve sales of 20,000 electric vehicles by 2020.”
