The Aion V is one of the cars GAC is launching in Europe as it looks to expand its presence in the region. The Aion V is on display at the company’s stand at the IAA Mobility auto show in Munich, Germany on September 9, 2025.
Arjun Kharpal | CNBC
Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC) aims to increase its European electric car sales 17-fold over the next two years, becoming the latest Chinese player to take on the region’s traditional automakers through aggressive expansion.
The entrance of the Chinese state-owned carmaker will exacerbate competition in the already intense European market that has recently seen interest from players from the world’s second largest economy, from BYD to Xpeng.
GAC’s presence will likely further add pressure on European giants — such as BMW and Mercedes — that have looked to fend off Chinese entrants with their own electric vehicles.
“Europe is one of our five major markets. It is a strategic market. We hope Europe will account for a major portion of our overseas market in the future,” Wei Haigang, president of GAC International, told CNBC in an interview at the IAA Mobility auto show in Munich on Monday.
Wei said GAC hopes to sell around 3,000 cars in Europe this year, before boosting this target to 15,000 in 2026 and at least 50,000 units by 2027.
GAC showed off its Aion V and Aion UT fully electric cars at the IAA show this week. Wei said the company is also looking to launch a plug-in hybrid car in Europe in the future.
The targets are aggressive, but come as Chinese companies continue to make inroads into Europe’s electric vehicle market. The market share of Chinese car brands in the first half of the year in Europe almost doubled from the same period last year, according to Jato Dynamics. While the market share remains small at just over 5%, it has notched rapid growth.
GAC is setting sights on expansion despite the European Union’s tariffs on China-made EVs, with the company saying it is looking at local manufacturing in Europe.
“We are hoping the Chinese government and the European Union can negotiate further to bring the tariffs down,” Wei said. “In the future, we hope to accelerate the manufacturing localization. So that, in the future, we [can] build up manufacturing capability in Europe for Europe, to better serve the European markets.”
