Arriving alongside the Aion UT is the Aion V, a Tesla Model Y and Skoda Enyaq-rivalling electric SUV revealed at last year’s Paris motor show.

It gets a 224bhp motor and a 90kWh LFP battery, giving a range of 324 miles.

GAC has yet to fix a UK launch date, but Schemera told Autocar it would be “very soon”.

He explained that the UK will feature in GAC’s second wave of growth markets, following its arrival in Portugal, Poland and Israel.

He added that the UK is a “very important” region for GAC to crack for various reasons. Chief among these is the fruitful EV market, EVs having accounted for almost one in five sales here last year.

However, GAC intends to launch a range of hybrids, plug-in hybrids and “in some cases” pure-ICE cars in addition to EVs.

Q&A: Thomas Schemera, chief operating officer, GAC Motor

What sets GAC apart from its rivals?

“First and foremost, our premium quality. This is nothing outstanding, because every customer expects premium quality, but we have run joint ventures with Toyota and Honda and we learned the ropes from the beginning. If you take a walk through our facilities – especially for Aion (models) – and have a look at our production, we really know how lean production works. Quality is not just a word; we take it very seriously from a customer perspective.”

What are your expectations for GAC’s European launch?

“If you enter a marketplace and your brand awareness is low, you have to build brand awareness. The second step is to interact with customers – walking through this valley of tears, so to speak. You have to invest and you have to be absolutely aware that you cannot make money from the very beginning: this is impossible.”

Why headquarter your design operations in Milan specifically?