Shanghai, 16 April 2019 – ICONA Design Group unveiled today the world premiere of an innovative transportation vehicle co-branded with JD (NASDAQ: JD), one of China’s largest e-commerce companies.

This project marks a milestone in the growth of the young Italian design company which has attended all Auto Shanghai shows since its foundation in 2010.
ICONA makes its appearance at Auto Shanghai with three creations,

ICONA AUTO SHANGHAI 2019

• The world premiere of ICONA & JinDong Co-Branding Project, a completely new autonomous logistics vehicle dedicated to the transportation of goods.
• The Space-pod, a small autonomous robot designed by ICONA for the Chinese leading e-commerce platform for service company Meituan (HKG:3690) which will make its Chinese premiere. The Space-pod was first shown at CES in Las Vegas in January 2019.
• The ICONA Nucleus, shown for the first time in the most advanced and fastest-growing city in the world, will surprise and inspire experts and enthusiasts as has already happened in Geneva, Beijing, Los Angeles, Paris and Monaco.

WORLD PREMIERE
ICONA AND JD UNVEIL A CO-BRANDING PROJECT AT AUTO SHANGHAI 2019

Teresio Gigi Gaudio, Chairman & CEO of ICONA Design, says: « ICONA partners with innovative, fast-growing companies which reshape our daily experience of consumer goods delivery and mobility. The ICONA Nucleus, the Space-pod for Meituan and the third vehicle for JD are three faces of the same revolutionary approach to urban movement and transportation of people and goods. »

ICONA AUTO SHANGHAI 2019

JinDong (JD) Autonomous Logistic vehicle is a running prototype. Samuel Chuffart, VP & Global Design Director of ICONA, says: “This vehicle, designed by ICONA and realized with Chery and other partners for JD, is intended to operate within JD’s premises and cover the distance from JD warehouses to JD delivery stations and JD terminal delivery robots. The design is approachable, not intimidating. Its light communication signature faces outwards rather than forwards: the intention is to provide an immediate and intuitive connection for the user and for people adjacent to the vehicle. The streamlined surfaces and a solid double-face silhouette underline the full versatility of this vehicle, so simple in its look and so rich in its performance.”

In the future a vehicle like this could be used on campuses, in industrial parks and other controlled private and public areas, and potentially also (after tomorrow) on public roads, starting with those roads with dedicated lanes.
Since Geneva 2018, ICONA’s flagship project has been the highly acclaimed Icona Nucleus. “It is a concept vehicle” comments Chuffart, “that embodies ICONA’s vision for the mobility of after tomorrow, anticipating the redefinition of automobile architecture with full autonomous driving technology on an electric hydrogen powered platform.”
ICONA Nucleus has been awarded twice by the German Council for Design (Passenger Cars and Universal Design) and has inspired many other futuristic concept vehicles already presented to the market.

ICONA AUTO SHANGHAI 2019

With these two other autonomous driving vehicles, ICONA strengthens its ties to future mobility, looking beyond traditional people transportation and opening its design research to new dimensions. « Our three studios in Turin, Shanghai and Los Angeles » says Gaudio, « are pushing to the limits the boundaries of innovation, with tangible benefits for all our clients. »
JinDong (JD) Autonomous Logistic Vehicle – Technical specifications
Length 3171 mm; width 1647 mm, height 1927 mm

ICONA

Founded in 2010, Icona has its roots in the city of Turin, Italy, where many globally recognized automotive-related facilities are concentrated, including design studios, manufacturers, universities and research centers. The Icona group has a partnership with sector leaders Tecnocad Progetti and Cecomp which ensures a solid base for development projects carried out for its clients, with know-how that covers the entire process, from management to styling, and from engineering to prototyping and production. Tecnocad and Cecomp are also two shareholders of Icona along with Teresio Gigi Gaudio, Chairman and CEO. The Icona Group has more than 130 designers, modelers, engineers and project managers from 21 different countries, with offices in Shanghai and Los Angeles in addition to their Turin headquarters. In 2018 Icona’s revenue exceeded 23 million Euros, a 28% increase over 2017.