Guangzhou Automobile Group is exploring additional production capacity in Europe to support a large-scale expansion in markets including France. Cedric Lacour, deputy chief executive of GAC France, said local manufacturing capacity was a necessary consequence of the Chinese automaker's plan to establish a durable European presence.
Magna currently produces the GAC vehicles sold in Europe, but the company is examining options both with that partner and with other potential investors. The search has not yet produced a disclosed plant, investment amount or timetable, leaving the industrial structure of the expansion under discussion.
GAC presented the compact electric Aion UT and Aion V at an event in Paris, introducing its first two models for the French market. The launch moves the group from planning into retail execution in a country where established European brands and other Chinese manufacturers are competing intensely.
The company intends to launch 12 electric and hybrid models in France by 2030. That schedule implies a broad product range rather than dependence on two initial vehicles, allowing GAC to address different customer segments while adjusting the balance between battery-electric and hybrid demand.
GAC also plans to operate 50 French dealerships in 2026 and increase the network to 200 by 2030. Lacour described the objective as taking the brand from launch to scale within four years, making distribution growth as important as the pace of model introductions.
Asked whether GAC had entered Europe late compared with rivals, Lacour argued that the timing was favorable. The company already sells in Finland, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom, giving its French push a place within a wider European rollout rather than an isolated national experiment.
Electric vehicles reached record shares of new French registrations, at 35% in July and 38% in August, as higher fuel prices linked to the Iran war supported demand. GAC is using that market shift to justify faster expansion, although its production decisions and dealer targets still require execution over several years.
