GAC Turns to Football to Build Lasting Ties with Europe
At the 2026 Paris Motor Show, the automaker’s Chelsea FC partnership highlighted a European strategy built around engineering, local connections and consumer trust.
For an automotive brand expanding into Europe, recognition is only the beginning. The longer-term challenge is earning a place in consumers’ everyday lives. At the 2026 Paris Motor Show, GAC presented football as an important part of its answer.
The show opened on October 12 at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, where GAC showcased new energy vehicles across its three brands and unveiled the AION UT Cross in its global debut. Alongside its product line-up, the company introduced its European brand proposition, “GAC. THE ENGINEERS,” while GAC CARE+ made its European debut.
Football brought another dimension to the presentation. GAC and Chelsea Football Club held a global partnership signing ceremony at the GAC booth, officially establishing the automaker as Chelsea’s Official Automotive Partner.
Chelsea legend Claude Makélélé joined the occasion, meeting GAC owners, demonstrating his football skills and signing an autograph for a robotic “young fan”—a playful encounter between the sporting and engineering worlds.
The agreement builds on cooperation during Chelsea’s 2026 pre-season tour. Chelsea becomes the second European football club to enter into a strategic partnership with GAC, following Spain’s Villarreal CF.
Connecting Through a Shared Passion
Asked by Times Monaco how the Chelsea and Villarreal partnerships would help GAC become part of the European market, Chen Jiacai, Chairman of GAC International, pointed to football’s place in European life.
“Our thinking behind sports marketing is very simple: Europeans love football, so we want to meet them in football fields,” he said.
Through the two clubs, GAC aims to connect with supporters in the United Kingdom, Spain and across Europe. For Chen, the appeal extends beyond the size of the audience: football creates an environment where enthusiasm, identity and belonging are already deeply rooted.
“These partnerships allow European consumers to discover GAC in an exciting environment where people feel a strong sense of passion and belonging,” he explained.
From Recognition to Trust
Chen made a clear distinction between attracting attention and establishing a lasting relationship with consumers.
“But visibility is only the first step. What matters more to us is building trust.”
That ambition places the partnerships within GAC’s broader approach to European expansion. The company describes Europe as both a key market and a strategic hub for its global growth, with an emphasis on engineering, local services and the development of supporting ecosystems.
“Football is an important part of everyday life in Europe. When a brand genuinely supports the clubs and communities that people care about, it becomes part of the local culture,” Chen said.
The commercial ambition is equally clear: to turn an initial connection through sport into interest in GAC’s vehicles and confidence in its services.
“Over time, we hope this connection will encourage more people to visit our showrooms, experience our vehicles and place their trust in our services.”
In Paris, GAC’s message therefore extended beyond its latest models. Engineering provided the product story; football offered a way to begin a wider conversation with European consumers. The longer-term test will be how those connections develop into the everyday experiences on which brand trust depends