SHANGHAI: General Motors Co announced on Monday that it has enlarged its design studio in China, which will now focus solely on the development of electric and connected vehicles, rather than designing gasoline vehicles. The decision comes as the world’s largest automaker prepares to phase out gasoline and diesel vehicles from its fleet by 2035, highlighting its ambitions to expand its presence in China, the world’s largest electric car market.
It also helps GM achieve its goal of generating recurring revenue from software and services long after the initial product is sold, similar to Apple Inc., by selling EV battery charging and switching services, for example.
By 2025, GM intends to sell more than one million electric vehicles (EV) in the United States and China. Last month, the business announced that it would increase expenditure on electric and autonomous vehicles by 75% from March 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic suffocated the industry, to US$35 billion through 2025. “We have the proper organizations and people to provide the most wanted products to China’s consumers,” Julian Blissett, executive vice president and president of GM China, said in a statement, citing the studio’s new facilities and increasing team of professionals. The new advanced design studio was established by revamping an existing studio on the same campus as GM’s China tech center in Shanghai. It is one of three across the world that designs future generation GM automobiles.
GM announced that the studio has nearly doubled in size to 5,000 square meters, and that it is hiring to grow the design staff. The number of new staff has not been disclosed by the company. According to a source close to the company, the team now consists of less than 40 designers, digital and physical modelers, virtual reality professionals, and support staff. GM sold 170,000 all-electric vehicles in China last year, up from 50,000 in 2019. GM sells cars in China through two joint ventures with state-owned SAIC Motor Corp. (Norihiko Shirouzu contributed reporting; Sayantani Ghosh and Sherry Jacob-Phillips edited the piece.)/n
