GAC hires veteran European car designer Benoit Jacob

Benoit Jacob, a European car designer who oversaw the styling of the BMW i3 and i8 electric vehicles, has joined GAC Motor Co. as the major state-owned automaker’s global executive design director.

Jacob will work with the company’s design chief, Zhang Fan, and its global design team to drive innovative styling, GAC said on Sept. 13. 

Jacob was vice president at Nio, a Chinese EV startup, where he was responsible for product design, strategic planning and brand positioning, according to GAC. 

He began his car design career at Renault in 1994. In 2001, he joined Volkswagen Group and participated in the design of the VW Passat, Audi R8 and some Seat and Lamborghini models. 

In 2004, he left VW Group for BMW Group. In 2010, he was in charge of designing i-series EVs for BMW, GAC said. 

GAC, based in the south China city of Guangzhou, markets Trumpchi-brand gasoline, hybrid and plug-in vehicles as well as Aion-badged full electric vehicles. 

The company has lost more market share in China since the beginning of the year. 

In the first eight months, Trumpchi sales dropped 6.4 percent to 242,209, while Aion deliveries slumped 38 percent to 186,388, according to GAC. 

GAC also operates passenger-vehicle joint ventures with Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.