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GAC Motor delays U.S. entry until 2020Detroit — GAC Motor has delayed its introduction to the U.S. market, the Chinese automaker's president Yu Jun said Monday.
At a panel with media following the unveiling of its electric vehicle concept SUV at the North American International Auto Show, Guangzhou Automobile Group Motor Co. said GAC hopes to enter the U.S. market in the first half of 2020.
Last year, the carmaker had said it hoped to start selling to Americans in the fourth quarter of 2019, but trade disputes between the U.S. and China have pushed back those plans, Jun said.
“There are a lot of challenges in this industry,” Jun said. “It is an uphill battle. … Our ultimate objective is to build the company into a world-class brand and globalized brand. We need to work toward that goal. We are technology- and innovative-driven. … We think American consumers will enjoy our products.”
The three-row, seven-seat concept vehicle GAC unveiled is called the Entranze EV. It is the first concept vehicle from GAC's North America design studio in California. Designers ditched traditional thinking and worked on the interior and exterior at the same to create a coastal architecture-inspired flow that blurs the indoor and outdoors.
As a result, the Entranze features patio-inspired sliding glass doors and a panoramic roof. Foldable rocker panels serve as steps and also as a bench for outdoor seating. More than 90 percent of the vehicle's interior component are made from environmentally sustainable materials such as cork.
A wave-inspired instrument panel in front of the three-seat first-row bench gives way to OLED screens on both sides instead of a single screen in the middle, though artificial-intelligence voice control seeks to minimize driver distraction.
Executive Design Director Pontus Fontaeus brought his experience working on Ferraris, Land Rovers and Volvos as well as commercial aircrafts. That is evidenced in the steering wheels with illuminated touch controls around its perimeter. The wheel also works with a heads-up information cluster and voice-command activation.
Another nods to aviation is the storage trolley that slides between the seats when needed.
GAC also is using its “Vision Unlimited” exhibition at the auto show for the first North American appearance of the brand's latest GM6 minivan and to show its new GS5 SUV, which are available in other countries.
Its remaining lineup includes the new GS4 crossover launched in early 2018, luxury SUV GS8, seven-seat minivan GM8, and electric compact crossover GE3.
“These vehicles showcase our commitment to bring U.S. customers our world-class products,” Yu Jun, GAC Motors' president, said at the show.
GAC operates in 16 countries. In 2018, it sold more than 535,000 cars globally, a 5.23 percent increase year over year.
Its first appearance at NAIAS was in 2013, and the company has held several global introductions on its stage here.
GAC Motor is preparing to open a new research and development center in March in Farmington Hills wit. It already has one in Silicon Valley in addition to its advanced design center in Los Angeles.
bnoble@detroitnews.com
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