What is Aion? Complete brand, model and tech guide for UK car buyers
Think 17 Chinese car brands in the UK is plenty? GAC doesn’t, so here’s its Aion brand
Picture the scene: the Aion V electric SUV in a room with the Volkswagen ID.4, a BYD Sealion 7, Vauxhall Grandland and Changan S07, prospective car buyers climbing in and out of them, giving feedback to customer researchers. That’s the kind of preparation Aion Auto UK has embarked on ahead of its trade launch pitching to dealer partners this week, before a customer launch in spring 2026.
“We put the V alongside established and new entrant brands and the consumers tell us they really like it,” says Aion Auto UK managing director Jon Wakefield. “They like the numbers: we’re right at the top with range and charge speed. Quality is subjective but they’re very positive about that and interior space and so on.”
Wakefield ran Volvo’s sales operations in the UK and Sweden, and joined Aion’s UK operation in May alongside network development director Duncan Johnston (ex-Ford, Honda, Lotus and more). Behind the scenes, ex-Ferrari PR Al Clarke is advising on the communications strategy, while former VW UK marketing director and Range Rover boss Geraldine Ingham devises the brand story. Not an easy job considering Aion is a mere five-years-old and its products will initially have to trade – like almost all Chinese brands – on rational numbers, particularly price. The Aion V will cost in “the mid-£30,000s”.
“As we launch next year we will share a nice brand positioning, something that consumers can really hook onto,” promises Wakefield. “That story will be told through our retailers and that's why I'm so focused on them as the next part of our journey.”
Big plans for the Aion V
Wakefield and Johnston are talking to Auto Express at a Buckinghamshire preview of Aion V prototypes. The electric SUV – with 317 miles of range and nifty 10-80 per cent DC charging in 24 minutes – could be one of many interchangeable Chinese electric SUVs – a Geely EX5, a Changan S07, a Leapmotor C10: click here for a tempting offer on a new Geely. Is it a problem there are already 17 Chinese car brands with first-mover advantage?
“You say we’re late to market and others have gone first,” says an unruffled Wakefield. “Full credit to them, they’ve really warmed up the UK consumer to the idea that entrant brands are worthy of a look. So we’ll now present our product.”
As the boss says, the first step is to recruit dealer partners – and Johnston and Wakefield’s vast experience is already encouraging prospects to get in touch. “If you look five years down the line, you need approximately 100 retail points to cover the UK market,” explains Johnston. “But with the volume [projection] for next year and only two models, clearly [it’s going to be] a steady progression.”
Aion UT hatch and plug-in hybrid to follow
Coming a few months after the V’s spring launch is the UT small hatch. Both cars are electric, but Aion will be “an electrified brand in Europe,” says Johnston. “The next car will be a plug-in hybrid,” says Wakefield. And head of product Owen Lloyd is evaluating range-extender hybrid technology, where an electric motor drives the V, backed by a petrol engine generating power for the battery.
In China, Aion is a pure EV brand owned by Guangzhou Automobile (GAC). Wakefield says Aion is among China’s top five EV brands, and GAC is in the top 10 biggest car companies. Other brands in the GAC stable include the Hyptec premium brand and Hycan brand which is a joint-venture with Nio, giving Aion Auto UK a broad portfolio of SUVs, saloons and hatches to choose from. To keep down marketing costs, all will be sold under the Aion brand here (pronounced ‘ion’).
“We’ve got a really smart line-up coming through: six products by 2028, and another couple more in the years afterwards, and that'll take us from B segment [supermini] hatchback all the way up to a [flagship] E-segment off-roader,” promises Wakefield.
Comprehensive package for customers
Aion UK is ticking all the critical ‘hygiene’ boxes: eight-year warranty and next-day parts delivery from a UK warehouse backed by a European parts hub in Rotterdam. The execs have lined up a major finance provider and taken out a lease on a training centre for technicians and sales people.
It’s even had some civil servant discussions about applying for the Electric Car Grant, but that looks like a pipe dream given UK cars are assembled in China. Magna will contract manufacture some European mainland models, however.
Aion sells in 85 markets and has already touched down in Finland, Portugal and Poland. “But the eyes of the world are watching the UK, because it’s the second largest market in Europe. The dynamic state of the market and the sophistication of consumers makes it the most important launch for GAC,” says the UK boss.
The Aion V will arrive with a five-star Euro NCAP crash test rating and Wakefield claims the brand has topped the JD Power quality charts for years in China.
So where will Aion Auto UK be in five years’ time? “GAC’s ambition is 200,000 units across Europe by 2030. That means for the Aion brand in the UK we’ll have a network of around 100 retailer locations, using around 15 retail partners, and we’ll have up to eight [vehicles] in the lineup,” concludes Johnston.
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