Five facts about the GAC brand that can inspire confidence in its cars

GAC is yet another three-letter brand, but there is something special about them. The Guangzhou Automobile Group, as it is otherwise known, has a long and storied history that spans about seven decades. Established in 1955, GAC got its start in China, and it is currently the fifth-largest manufacturer in the country. 

In the Philippines, the brand is now distributed by the Astara Group, an international company that handles the distribution of multiple brands in several countries, and apart from Peugeot, GAC is one of its focuses. Positioned as a brand that caters to a wide range of consumers, and is eager to compete with its polished lineup of products. GAC is making a case for itself coming up with some very worthwhile products like the GS8, Empow, and Emkoo to name a few. With the brand still relatively young in the Philippines, for now at least, here are five facts about it that we think will inspire confidence in its buyers. 

Three of the biggest names in the automotive industry have partnered with GAC to produce cars in China. The joint ventures leverage the local manufacturing and know-how of GAC to produce cars and continue to do so for the Chinese market. 

GAC has been partners with Honda for quite some time now, with the two companies starting their joint operations in 1999 selling Honda and Acura cars. GAC-Toyota then followed in 2004, with the headquarters located in Guangzhou for the same purpose of selling Toyota-GAC vehicles. Mitsubishi was one of the later partners with a joint venture that was established in 2010, with its operations starting in 2012. 

Other brands like Hino and also BYD have partnered with GAC as a joint venture, with Hino coming in for the manufacture of trucks and busses for the Chinese market, and BYD partnering to make BYD-based trucks and busses under the GAC brand. 

Speaking of electric cars, GAC also has technologies and models in place in the electric segment of the market, but it does so under other brand names, Aion and Hycan. The two brands cater to different segments of the market, with Hycan being the every-man electric car that caters to the mass market buyers who are willing to go electric. Meanwhile, Hycan is for the more discerning customer. 

While Hycan's cars are interesting, it’s Aion's Hyper sub-brand that deserves a bit of the airtime as the brand makes some pretty amazing cars, something along the lines of hypercars with the main catch being that they’re electric. 

The GAC R&D Center in Silicon Valley. This serves as a hub for the GAC Group's research and development efforts for its cars and its other products. The center handles independent product development, as well as the overall technology management of GAC’s portfolio. 

GAC Global opened the center in 2006, and it has been operating there ever since. It’s because of this center, as well as the cumulative efforts of GAC Advanced Design Shanghai, and the GAC global R&D network in Guangzhou, that we’re able to get breakthrough technologies in GAC cars like Mega Wave power. 

Up to 15 types of labs are available in GAC’s R&D Center which covers vehicles, powertrains, new energy, Intelligent Connected Vehicle technologies, and trial production facilities. The Center produces up to 800 sample vehicles per year, and it also includes a special track for vehicle testing. 

When it comes to tech, we’re not just talking about the infotainment system or the fact that a bunch of its cars has adaptive cruise control in its advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), but also with regard to the engine and the chassis engineering that goes into the models. One of the most impressive sedans we were able to test includes the GAC Empow with the Mega Wave Power technology. The 1.5-liter turbocharged engine has one of the highest outputs in its class, making 174 hp and 270 Nm of torque, mated to a seven-speed wet-dual-clutch transmission (DCT). 

Mega Wave Power isn’t about cooling as we initially thought, but it is a full system of engine enhancements and tweaks made on GAC’s part to bring the engine up to efficiency and power figures that match or outperform other competitors. The engine technology keeps temperatures down, improves efficiency, and enhances performance to an exciting degree. Mega Wave Power is also available in the GAC Emkoo, allowing for its excitement to trickle into other segments, thus making it one of the more notable reasons to buy a GAC today. 

You don’t get to partner with some of the biggest brands in the world if your production facilities aren’t up to snuff. GAC is big, and it’s also advanced in its facilities. Aside from its R&D centers across the world, the brand also boasts of its highly efficient, clean, and automated production lines that deliver quality products while retaining a level of productivity that is in line with product demand. 

GAC also boasts of its stringent quality control system which keeps all aspects of the vehicle in check even before it reaches the customer. Also, GAC strives to achieve a “zero-defect goal” with its products, which netted quality control programs and management systems such as "Stop-Call-Wait and PDCA," "standardization, systematism, and platform," and the “basic concept of quality control, quality assurance in process and constant improvement" as three vital elements. GAC Motor has also established a strict "6520" quality control system, carrying out "6 characteristic activities", taking the "5 monitorings" and "2 Screenings" as the main measures to achieve the "zero defect" goal.