Concept Cars, Chinese Design, and AI's Role in Car Design - GAC Design Chief Zhang Fan Reveals All

GAC is the brand behind some of the boldest concept cars produced in recent times. Under the stewardship of former Mercedes-Benz designer, Zhang Fan, the brand has taken on a dynamic new 'diamond-inspired' form language and recently revealed a separate 'water drop' design language for their electric-only AION brand.
We sat down with Zhang Fan himself to tell us more about his path to the top at GAC Design, why the brand still finds so much value in concept cars, how Chinese car design has been able to catch up to established markets, and the role AI is already playing a in the next design revolution.
Join us for our first episode of 'The Big Interview', and stick around for a separate video where Zhang Fan answers some quick fire design questions.
#chinacar #chinesecars #electriccar #evs #cardesign #gacmotor #aion #design #designtalks #zhangfan

[@bernardmonfort3272]

I "naively" was under the impression, that most China car makers contracted "foreign talents" for their car design, relying on established ex Jaguar or Mercedes designers for instance. Zhang Fan's passion and hard work really is a starling example of how China as a whole rapidly developed to be so successful today.

[@InsideChinaAuto]

He's a great example and a good role model for young Chinese designers. Many brands do use foreign talent, to be honest even foreign brands do, it takes a whole range of people to put a car together, but I really like the comment about Chinese designers travelling lightweight, unburdened by ideas of what a car should be. I think that's really an interesting perspective that they bring.

[@bernardmonfort3272]

@@InsideChinaAuto It is interesting that Zhang Fan sees each car model as a brand, and that shows in the diversity of the models! No brand identity for GAC, unlike Vw with the all similar ID3, ID4, ID5. Zhang Fan's design places the consumer first, not the company.

[@MaticTheProto]

most do that

[@InsideChinaAuto]

@matic8255 Not sure about that. Look at Mercedes, Audi, NIO, every model looks exactly the same. I'm glad GACs look like GACs without looking like bigger or smaller versions of each other.

[@InsideChinaAuto]

@matic8255 Not sure about that. Look at Mercedes, Audi, NIO, every model looks exactly the same. I'm glad GACs look like GACs without looking like bigger or smaller versions of each other.

[@howardcrane4258]

What a fantastic interview. I thoroughly enjoyed your specific questions and the humble,honest, thought provoking response of the true gentleman being interviewed.

[@InsideChinaAuto]

Thanks Howard. He's a talented guy and very humble indeed. I'm passionate about design so I love to chat to this kind of person.

[@frankiedehockie]

Great Content. Zhang Fan is very humble and honest.

[@InsideChinaAuto]

He really is. Great guy.

[@CarsonCheung]

A leading Chinese automobile designer,respect!

[@InsideChinaAuto]

Cheers, and a top guy too. Humble as they come.

[@OldManRunner]

The video was hugely informative with interesting insights into Chinese design. It would be great to see more interviews to go alongside the car reviews. Thanks.

[@InsideChinaAuto]

Thanks very much. We're working on more content like this and should hopefully have it coming up soon. Stay tuned!

[@hjyguyful]

Very impressed by his intelligence and thoughtfulness. I was marvelling at their new car designs and now I know who made all that possible.

[@InsideChinaAuto]

Yeah, he's very thoughtful and a lovely guy. He's made a great career from a very difficult starting point and is doing great things now. I'm a big fan of the Hyper GT we recently reviewed and the EMKOO.

[@JianYZhong]

Interesting interview (and questions!). I have been watching a few other videos, all very interesting and informative. This is my favourite channel on cars. 😊👍😀

[@InsideChinaAuto]

So glad you like it. Hoping to get more interviews in future with other designers in this space. I did get one really nice story about Li Auto's designer who used to design for Porsche. He left because 'he didn't want to design cars for old white men'. He's from Stuttgart so he'd know well enough who the primary audience for those cars are.

[@amigodesigns]

Great content, specially for anyone studying transport design.

[@InsideChinaAuto]

Glad you liked it. Sure, it's long, but I didn't want to lose the context of his answers too much.

[@CasperChicago]

The Chinese are not dumb; the legacy ICE auto manufacturers are! It is facinating to hear what Chinese auto manufactures think of the BEV technology and to see how excited they are at the prospect of being the number 1 or number 2 BEV manufacturer in the world. I appreciate your ability to bring us accurate information from the inside of China. The CEOs of Ford and GM should watch this video and "hopefully" come to realize that while they are still thinking about entering the race, the Chinese have started running and have a massive lead on them.

[@InsideChinaAuto]

More than that, it's a lead they're unlikely to relinquish any time soon. Where parties and lobbyists are fighting over whether EVs are even the right thing in Europe and the US, China has made clear where it intends to go and is well on the way, even with some treading the middle ground of EREVs to begin with. I'm afraid the US already knows its goose is cooked (Tesla aside) and so will double down on petrol pick ups, or more unnecessary war sadly.

[@GingerRuss75]

@@InsideChinaAuto The petro dollar is the elephant in the room. If China can lead the world in a green shift and promote quality and reliability, then sky's the limit.

[@InsideChinaAuto]

@@GingerRuss75 Absolutely, and China has a firm grasp on battery tech and processing right now.

[@valueinvestor8555]

WIll there be a long comprehensive tour video for the Shanghai Auto Show like for the Guangzhou Auto Show?

[@InsideChinaAuto]

There will. Working on it as we speak.

[@valueinvestor8555]

@@InsideChinaAuto cool thanks

[@blex5579]

chinese car design made quantic leaps the past 3-4 years...cheers from germany. as to Zhang being hired by Mercedes, i bet it was some corporate decision, since China was eager to source as much know-how as possible from the west, making joint-ventures difficult and having to oblige to demands from China...he certainly made it a success though.

[@InsideChinaAuto]

It did indeed, and it's partly down to blending the know-how from the west with the different perspective of the east, and partly because EVs have completely removed the competitive advantage of western brands. Either way, Zhang has done pretty well for himself and his humility is certainly refreshing for a designer, much like Donckerwolke.

[@havencat9337]

its on ly natural for a country as big to want to have its own champion companies. are you happy where EU is in regards to software/tech in regards to US? I am really not happy and that is why i eft EU. EU needs to bring back its tech if it wants people to return and make a good living. till then i will earn a good living in CN

[@blex5579]

@@havencat9337 i hear ya.

[@faithosadebe5293]

Wow... Wow...

[@InsideChinaAuto]

These guys do some amazing designs and really out there concepts, and he's the first Chinese designer employed at Mercedes-Benz. It's quite a story.

[@faithosadebe5293]

@@InsideChinaAuto wow.. Awesome.. I also heard VW are sourcing for engineers from China..

[@InsideChinaAuto]

@faithosadebe5293 They really need to, especially on connectivity stuff. Theirs is nothing compared to China's and if they don't fix that, they'll be dead in their current biggest market before long.

[@johnmoloney3465]

What a modest guy ! Thanks for the interview 👍

[@InsideChinaAuto]

@@johnmoloney3465 He's great. You don't get many people at his level admitting to not feeling good enough at points in their career.

[@CT37BN]

Space concept fascia reminded me of a whale baleen.🐳

[@InsideChinaAuto]

Yeah, almost certainly took inspiration from that.

[@firstprototype]

Not even China can afford to put concepts in production 😢 Not even they don't understand the concept of rich people who will pay for the creazyest creation as long is it limited edition 10-20 cars 🤔

[@InsideChinaAuto]

I dunno, the HiPhi X and Z look pretty concept-y to me. AION are doing the Hyper SSR and that's ace.

[@sggr7708]

basically he talks nothing ,,, bla bla bla

[@InsideChinaAuto]

To the uninformed, all is blah blah, but thanks for watching.