General Motors Upgrades Design Capability in China

Expanded Advanced Design Center doubles local design capacity to accelerate EV development

General Motors announced the opening of its GM China Advanced Design Center today after an expansion and upgrade. As a leading vehicle design facility and an important part of the GM global design network, it doubles the advanced design capacity of GM in China and will contribute to the company’s ongoing effort to ramp up battery-electric vehicle development.

GM China Advanced Design Center Atrium; photo credit: GM

With a more flexible creative space as well as advanced technologies, processes and specialized equipment, the team will focus on envisioning future designs of electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles and beyond, drawing inspiration from China – the world’s largest new energy vehicle market – and maintaining stewardship of design frontiers.

Julian Blissett; photo credit: GM

“Innovation allows us to adopt the best solutions available in a quick and agile way. More important, it will allow us to stay proactive in exploring synergies across the regions, to help us drive the once-in-a-century transformation of our industry,” said Julian Blissett, GM executive vice president and president of GM China.

“We believe we now have the right strategy and the right technologies. We also believe that with facilities like the new GM China Advanced Design Center and its growing team of professionals, we have the right organizations and people to bring the most desirable products to China’s consumers in the new era of electrification and connectivity.”

GM China Advanced Design Center Rotating Doors; photo credit: GM

The upgraded Advanced Design Center has a flexible, open layout that pushes the boundaries of modern design. It offers an immersive experience by fusing digitally and spatially interactive designs, an atrium with variable color temperatures and 27 rotating glass doors. This all comes together to create an avant-garde, sensory and inspirational creative space for the new generation of automotive designers to reimagine future mobility.

CMF studio; photo credit: GM

Revolutionary hardware and software such as Ultium and the Vehicle Intelligence Platform (VIP) have provided a blank canvas for designers to innovate and develop EVs. The upgraded 5,000-square-meter Advanced Design Center includes two full-size milling platforms; a color, material and finish (CMF) studio; a head-mounted-display (HMD) studio; a virtual reality room; and a patio, making it among the most advanced facilities of its kind in China. It will help designers create mobility concepts suitable for the new era, leveraging techniques that include conceptual innovation, digital design, VR and immersive technology applications with physical full-size models, as well as design verification.

“The evolution of technology has opened up new opportunities for designers to create the future of mobility,” said Michael Simcoe, vice president of GM Global Design. “We hope the upgraded facility will provide an ideal environment for our Shanghai team to imagine, create, inspire and develop design strategies for GM’s future portfolio.”

The Advanced Design Center will gradually expand its local design team, nurture even more local automotive design talent and continue to provide insights on trends in the automotive and fashion sectors. The team will focus on the Chinese market while staying abreast of the latest developments across the industry. It will cooperate closely with GM’s local design teams at the Warren Technical Center and California Advanced Design Center in the U.S., Korea Technical Center, and PATAC joint venture in China to grasp the latest automotive design trends and set new benchmarks for future mobility.

Ken Parkinson; photo credit: GM

“The importance of this team to General Motors is why we’re investing in this facility and in this team’s growth. We’ve created an environment that matches the excitement and energy of Shanghai. It’s a place that creative designers, and clay and digital sculptors will want to work in and be a part of,” said Ken Parkinson, GM China vice president of Design.

GM China Advanced Design Center Clay Studio; photo credit: GM

“This studio will continue to study the Chinese consumer’s mobility needs, and the behaviors and trends in automotive and other areas of fashion and design – and will share this knowledge with the GM global design family, influencing programs for local and global markets.”

The Advanced Design Center also unveiled PERCEIVE – its first multimedia sculpture in collaboration with partners from other sectors – at today’s opening ceremony. As a work of art derived from cooperation with well-known new media artist Liu Jiayu, PERCEIVE expresses the imagination of the future of transportation through the multidimensional interpretation of sound, light and shadow.

During the opening ceremony, over 100 guests from the government, media, design and the arts witnessed the upgrade in the size and competency of the facility. During the evening, five leaders from the arts and other fields held spirited exchanges with other guests on GM product concepts and the future of mobility.

Established in November 2012 in Shanghai, the GM China Advanced Design Center is part of the GM China Advanced Technical Center and adjacent to the GM China Science Lab and Engineering Center. Its expansion commenced in October 2020.