Source | YuanAuto

GAC Aion has earned the moniker ‘King of Ride-Hailing’ due to the significant presence of its models, such as the Aion S and Aion Y, in ride-hailing fleets.

Chelsea, a Premier League football club based in London, UK (referred to as ‘Chelsers’ in Cantonese-speaking regions of China), is affectionately dubbed the ‘Taxi’ by fans. This nickname stems from the club’s practice of frequently loaning out its players and its English abbreviation, ‘CHE’.

The unexpected partnership between these two ‘vehicle kings’ has caught many by surprise.

On October 8, Chelsea Football Club’s official website announced that GAC Group had become the official automotive partner of its men’s football team. It also hinted that select match days would feature GAC Aion’s new vehicles transporting players to Stamford Bridge for games.

For those unfamiliar with football, the significance of this partnership may not be immediately apparent. The Premier League boasts a global fanbase of nearly 1.87 billion, and Chelsea, as one of the ‘BIG 6’ teams, commands a massive following worldwide. Focusing on Europe or even just the UK, Chelsea’s influence rivals that of Guangzhou Evergrande’s domestic prominence at its peak.

It is reasonable to assume that GAC Group made a substantial investment to enable GAC Aion to share the limelight with Chelsea’s first-team men’s football squad.

For context, media reports indicate that the sponsorship fee for the front-of-shirt advertisement on Chelsea’s jerseys for the 2026/27 season is approximately RMB 400 million, with sleeve sponsorships exceeding RMB 150 million. GAC Group’s sponsorship of Chelsea is likely in the tens of millions of RMB.

Despite facing domestic performance pressures, GAC Group is making significant investments to pave the way for Aion’s overseas expansion, clearly because the brand is gaining momentum abroad, with the UK and Europe as key target markets for the next phase.

According to data released by GAC Group in July, its self-owned brand exports reached 121,500 units in the first half of 2026, marking a 132% year-on-year increase. Notably, exports were primarily driven by regional markets like the Americas and Asia-Pacific, with the AION UT and AION V being the key models contributing to overseas sales.

It is worth mentioning that GAC Group’s half-year export sales are roughly halfway to achieving the ‘ensure 250,000, aim for 300,000’ overseas sales target announced in February.

Clearly, if GAC Group aims to elevate its export business, the untapped European market is a top priority. This is especially true since GAC has already laid the groundwork for Aion’s production and sales in Europe.

Public information reveals that GAC Group began producing GAC Aion models at Magna’s Austrian plant in the fourth quarter of 2025. To date, the AION V and AION UT models have been successfully launched and delivered to European customers. Meanwhile, GAC Group completed signing overseas dealers in the third quarter of 2025 and initiated the construction of sales networks in European countries like the UK.

By leveraging the advantages of local assembly and production in Europe, GAC Aion offers outstanding cost-effectiveness, making it highly competitive in the market.

Take the UK as an example. The AION V, officially launched in June this year, starts at £36,450. As an SUV with spacious interiors, it is over £2,000 cheaper than the comparable BYD ATTO 3 (known as Yuan Plus in China). The strategy of offering ‘more for less’ has already proven successful for the BYD ATTO 3 in the UK market, with 8,000-11,000 new car registrations in 2025, placing it at the top of the second tier among similar models.

Following the AION V, the AION UT holds even greater promise.

As a compact pure electric sedan, the AION UT is expected to be more affordable than the AION V. Using BYD’s similar model, the DOLPHIN SURF (known as Haiou in China), as a reference, the AION UT’s pricing in the UK could drop to around £18,000. In this price range, Chinese-brand pure electric vehicles face virtually no competition. BYD achieved monthly sales of 20,000 units in the UK with the DOLPHIN SURF in September this year.

If Aion’s two models can establish a foothold in the UK, GAC Group will have no trouble expanding further in Europe, making the sponsorship of Chelsea a worthwhile investment.

However, it is important to note that competition among Chinese automakers in the UK and European markets is intensifying. Besides BYD, which has achieved monthly sales of 20,000 units, established exporters like SAIC and Chery are also ramping up their efforts. Even Chery announced a sponsorship deal with Premier League team Bournemouth in September, becoming the sponsor for the front-of-training-kit advertisements.

To succeed in this market, Aion and GAC Group will likely need more than just sharing the spotlight with Chelsea.

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