AION Auto UK is pushing ahead with plans for the brand which is set to debut in the UK next year.
AION Auto UK is the joint venture between GAC and Jameel Motors, an independent international vehicle distribution group.
It will be launching in the first half of 2026 with the AION V, a family BEV SUV, followed by the AION UT, a smart compact BEV hatchback.
It will be offering an eight-year / 100,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty and an eight-year / 125,000-mile for the battery.
New models will launch each year through the end of the decade. A seven-model line-up is planned by 2030.
The group is not going into detail on dealer numbers but said the emphasis would be on high customer satisfaction and a sharing of common values.
AION Auto UK is led by managing director Jon Wakefield (pictured) who has served top level roles with Volvo UK, Volvo Europe and dealer group Harwoods.
Wakefield said he and the team had been working for some time talking to dealers.
“We’ve shared what we’re working on, we’ve done quite a lot of good work networking in the background.
“I think that’s why people are interested in us as much as anything. Obviously good retailers want to see the product, they want to see the product back-up, they want to see the future and the commercial opportunity,” he told Motor Trader.
Wakefield said it was important the business was being run by management experienced in the UK market.
“As a UK based organisation with local expertise and managed by local experienced managers, this has allowed us already to get quite a lot of interest with retail partners,” he added.
“We are very confident that we’ve got a construct which will make us a real partner of choice for many retailers,” said Wakefield.
AION has created a modular showroom display that enables retailers to quickly adopt the new AION brand into their existing showroom space.
It said this will provide retail partners with a cost-efficient, sustainable, easily deployed on-brand showroom presence, avoiding the need for large upfront investments and wholesale interior renovations.
“The economics of a start-up have obvious challenges. So, we’re all about the long-term scale-up process with dealers who want to commit to being part of that. We will find great dealers and we’re going to be very excited to be partners with those that we do partner with,” said Wakefield.
The showroom will focus on the key touch points for the customer with exterior signage to direct the customer to the AION store.
Both V & UT will be on display in an AION environment with silent salesmen to provide product information and digital signage to convey the AION brand message.
There will also be demonstrators parked in designated areas and a charging point so EV charging can be demonstrated.
There will be an AION customer service point to ensure both AION prospects and owners are acknowledged as they enter the store and have an obvious desk to approach for sales and aftersales.
According to AION the modular construction means retailers can configure the showroom display as they wish, starting with two cars, and expanding the footprint as the model line-up and the scale of the business grows.
AEON said the initial set-up and subsequent expansion of the display structure takes just a few hours, further reducing the scale of the investment in creating a smart, professional showroom presence.
On the product side Wakefield told Motor Trader: “We are working very hard with GAC to hone the product offering existing products down the line.
“We’ve spent time on our last visit [to China] with the designers in the design studio, with the R&D people, with the senior members, all the way to the chairman of GAC, who’s taking a personal interest in our roll out, defining what the future product portfolio will be.
“We are very involved and that’s supported with the Jameel organisation which has offices in China as well. We have good connections in China on both sides of our organisation with both shareholders,” he said.
AION Auto UK announced this week it had strengthened its management team ahead of the brand’s entry into the UK market in early 2026.
Duncan Johnston has been appointed as network development director, bringing experience from several senior retail network roles in the UK and Europe, including at Honda, Lotus and Inchcape.
David Pay steps into the role of sales director, bringing 25 years of commercial experience in the automotive (McLaren) and financial services (Santander) industries.
And Ben Hurford joins as aftersales director after spending over 20 years at Renault UK in a number of senior commercial roles. One of its additional hires is a training manager for dealers.
AION will come to the market in the Wake of a strong of Chinese brands already here. Asked whether AION had come to the party late.,Wakefield told Motor Trader: “Well, you know, that’s a view. Alternatively, many people arrive at a party just after eight because it started to get going, don’t they?”
