….offers luxury SUV with N45m price tag
MIKE OCHONMA
Back 10 years ago, if someone was told that Chinese car manufacturers are coming up with high-end products and closing the wide gap between the once most sort after German, American and Japanese brands, one would have laughed it off. But these days, things are changing fast within the global automotive circles as Chinese automakers are investing massively into research and development purposes.
It proves that a product is only as good as the amount of investment poured into its research and development. This seems to be the case with the GAC GS8; the full-size SUV from China under the local franchise of GAC Motors Limited test driven by journalists and target corporate and high-networth customers in Lagos over the weekend.
The testdrive which kicked off from the G-Style showroom of GAC Motors, Victoria Island, Lagos was organised by the marketing team of the dealership in collaboration with Jiji-Cars45, one of Nigeria’s frontline automotive online marketing platforms. Yours sincerely was among the prime list of car enthusiast to have a driving feel of the GS8.
The first attraction upon jumping on the driving seat was the soft steering column and the welcoming aircraft’s cockpit-like dashboard design outlay.
While the testdrive lasted, the luxury SUV truly handled well on the road and sharp corners effortlessly. Other very exciting features are the GPS voice commands including the front and reverse cameras.
On motion, the super luxury SUV stands out while the take-off is within split-seconds upon the driver slaming his foot on the pedal. On traffic, the car engine shuts down while on drive mode,.and all that, the driver needs to do is a soft tap on the accelerator to resume his journey.
During an interactive session with newsmen, Obong Etim Udoh, marketing manager at GAC Motors Limited described the GS8 as luxury SUV delight that many car freaks will not regret to drive into their garages. He summarised by saying that, the GS8 is very good, top-notch and will give owners the best satisfaction possible.
On her part, Majolie Obaje, public relations and marketing head, Jiji Nigeria assured prospective visitors to the Cars45 section of customer-centric service experience whereby they can come to the Jiji online platform, make their choice selection of any GAC model of car they want.
She said within a very short space of purchasing decision made, customers will seamlessly drive away their choice cars, while reiterating the availability of quality spare parts and after sales service.
The Jiji public relations and marketing head noted that, the striking thing that both companies do together as complimentary brands is not anchored primarily on the desire to make business profit, but more on the desire to make sure Nigerians are offered that stress-free car shopping experience that will encourage them to come back again.
A summary impression of the Chinese full-size SUV presents a car that interacts intuitively with the driver and its occupants and one creates that atmosphere of hospitality.
On the exterior, the GS8 is formidable, as the boxy design looks like a mix of Cadillac Escalade, Toyota Land Cruiser 200, and Hyundai Palisade. The big center grille is a trendy design feature, but the GAC GS8 has taken it even further.
The GS8 also boasts a highly digitalized interior, featuring a 12.25-inch digital instrument cluster, flanked by a 14.6-inch center touchscreen, which would control almost all functions of the car.
This essentially removes the hassles and worries associated with the conventional physical buttons. However, the usual indicator and wiper stalks as well as proper gear-selector still applies.
Its interior also seems to feature a floating lower center console while the entire under-area can be used to wirelessly charge multiple devices.
The interior of the 7-seater GS8 looks nicely finished and this particular car seems to feature a half-leather interior, which also extends towards the dashboard.
It is instructive to note that, the GS8 is the flagship SUV of the Trumpchi GAC brand. The first generation debuted in 2017 and the all-new GS8 stands on a new platform, called GPMA. It grew in size measuring 4980mm/1950mm/1780mm, and wheelbase of 2920mm.
