China’s GAC comes back to Detroit auto showcase with three fresh cars
State-owned Chinese automaker GAC unveiled three cars on Monday at the two thousand seventeen Detroit auto demonstrate, in what was the company’s third appearance at the display. The cars were the GS7 SUV, GE3 electrified hatchback and EnSpirit concept.
GAC’s very first appearance at the Detroit auto showcase was in 2013, when it introduced a trio of vehicles including the GS5 SUV that featured in the movie “Transformers: Age Of Extinction,” and in two thousand fifteen it introduced the GS4 SUV. However, in both years the automaker’s stand was only on the sidelines of the demonstrate.
In 2017, it was the very first time GAC—or any Chinese automaker for that matter—had a stand on the main floor.
The most promising of GAC’s vehicles on display was the GS7, an SUV similar in size to the BMW X3 and designed to seat five. Under the rubber hood is a turbocharged Two.0-liter inline-4 paired with a 6-speed automatic transmission, both developed in-house. Peak output is a claimed one hundred ninety eight horsepower and two hundred thirty six pound-feet of torque.
The GS7 will commence sales in China next month under the Trumpchi brand, GAC’s main brand for passenger vehicles. GAC also has the brand Gonow which sells both passenger and commercial vehicles.
Trumpchi GE3, two thousand seventeen Detroit auto demonstrate
Another promising vehicle was the GE3. It’s GAC’s very first car based on a dedicated electrical car platform. It’s in the form of a compact hatchback and is said to have a range of a close to one hundred ninety miles on a single charge of its lithium-ion battery. Drive comes from a single electrical motor that produces one hundred sixty hp and two hundred fourteen lb-ft of torque.
The third vehicle GAC had on its stand was the EnSpirit concept car, a plug-in hybrid SUV with a coupe-like roof profile. The vehicle’s hybrid system combined a 1.5-liter inline-4 running the Atkinson cycle with an electrified motor. On electrified power alone the vehicle should be able to travel about fifty mi, and with the internal combustion engine kicking in this figure rises to four hundred thirty five mi.
GAC says it’s hopeful of embarking sales in the United States in 2018, however the automaker still needs to obtain certification for its vehicles and establish a network of dealerships. GAC already operates in fourteen countries and in two thousand sixteen registered sales of 370,000 vehicles.
More established automakers General Motors Company [NYSE:GM] and Volvo have already commenced selling Chinese-made cars in the U.S., and it’s only a matter of time until we also Chinese-made cars from Chinese automakers sold here. GAC very well may be the very first.
For more from the Detroit auto showcase, head to our dedicated hub.
Trumpchi EnSpirit concept, two thousand seventeen Detroit auto showcase