“I’m a big fan of globalisation. It’s very, very important from a Chinese perspective to understand globalisation, to want to know what our consumer benefits from across the world, and we have a lot of diversity. Not everything that works in China can be shifted across to another market, and that has to be very clearly understood – and vice versa.”
GAC Hyperluxury concept harks back to Bugatti Type 57SC
As well as fleshing out plans for global expansion, GAC has shared its vision of a personal luxury car inspired by the legendary Bugatti Type 57SC, Concorde and Chanel handbags.
The Chanel inspiration manifests in the Hyperluxury concept’s livery: a black exterior largely free of branding (limited to the shrouds on the wing-mounted pop-up headlights) is contrasted against a bright orange interior, with a huge GAC logo embossed into the dashboard.
The seats are inspired by the minimalist look of the famed Le Corbusier LC4 lounge chair, first produced in 1928, and contain zero heating or cooling elements. The driver is instead supposed to wear a large jacket containing these functions – a reference to the bold outfits worn by motorists in open-top cars throughout the ’20s and ’30s.
Instead of a traditional key, the car is opened and started using a gold ring that the driver can wear as a piece of jewellery.
GAC executives added that the concept was designed without the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
Stephane Janin, design director for GAC’s Milan studio, explained: “We thought it should be human-made, because we compare it with luxury goods, and we thought that’s a value we should work on for this very specific project. It was interesting for us to ask ourselves: ‘what does hyperluxury mean nowadays?’”
GAC doesn’t plan to produce the car, but it will inform another concept that’s earmarked for a reveal at the Shanghai motor show later this month.