Guangzhou-based automotive manufacturer, GAC Motor, presented its star model SUV, the GS8, as a gift to short track speed skater Wu Dajing, winner of China's first and only gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics, held in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Wu, 23, is the first Chinese male competitor to win an Olympic short track gold medal, breaking the world record over 500 meters. He has dominated short track skating since the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Wu's world-record win helped to end China's Winter Olympic campaign on a high note after what had been a disappointing event for the nation. Wu also won the silver medal in the men's 5,000-meter relay on the last day of the short-track competition in Pyeongchang. 

"Wu's championship is an encouragement to all our staff. We are very pleased to have him as a VIP user of GS8," said Yu Jun, president of GAC Motor. "Wu's striving spirit is in accordance with our brand - to do one's best and to create a legend."

Yu Jun, president of president of GAC Motor, poses for a photo with Wu Dajing. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

It is not the first time that GAC Motor has had links with the Olympic Games. After the 2012 London Olympic Games and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, the automaker also presented its vehicles as gifts to Guangdong-based gold medalists.

In 2016, GAC Motor's GS8 SUVs were presented to gold medalists including Fu Haifeng, men's badminton doubles veteran; Chen Aisen, men's synchronized and individual diving medalist; Liu Shiwen, women's table tennis group winner and Liu Hong, women's 20-kilometer race walker.

"GAC Motor has had a relationship for a long time with the world's top sports event. We are also creating legends in the automobile industry," Yu said.

The seven-seat SUV GS8 was launched in October 2016. The GS8, along with the GA8 sedan and GM8 MPV, are GAC Motor's latest high-end models, meeting growing demand from Chinese consumers for top quality homegrown vehicles.

The GS8, GA8 and GM8 are based on GAC Motor's C-class platform, which has helped the manufacturer's to increase efficiency and boost profits, according to Yu.

"The C-class platform shows the company's capability of making high-end luxury cars - a principle that we are positioned to follow in the automobile industry," Yu said.

GAC Motor, a subsidiary with the Guangzhou Automobile Group, was established in 2008. It sold 508,600 vehicles in 2017, a year-on-year increase of 37 percent, according to the company.

The growth rate was much higher than the national average level in 2017. China's auto industry grew at a relatively slow rate of 3.04 percent to about 10.84 million vehicles last year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

In the first two months of the 2018, a typically low sales period, GAC Motor sold 95,136 vehicles, up 20.3 percent year-on-year, according to the company.

On March 16, speed skater Wu visited GAC Motor's plant in Panyu, a southern district of Guangzhou, and was impressed by the company's advanced facilities in production and logistics.

"The company's human-machine collaboration facilities and intelligent and automation logistics impressed me most," Wu said. "GAC Motor's cars, developed in such an advanced plant, will have quality like an Olympic champion."