A Look at the Current State of Chinese Model Makers.The Key Players Supporting China’s Fiercely Competitive Automotive Industry — Part 1: MOTIVO
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To explore the current state of these companies supporting the world's largest automotive market, we introduce two model makers based in Shanghai, China: MOTIVO and Shanghai SKY.
Both companies trace their roots back to the Shanghai branches of Japanese model makers, yet it is the people themselves who have preserved, nurtured, and grown that foundation within China's unique cultural and business environment.
The concept cars they produce have already reached a global standard of quality. We begin with Part 1, featuring MOTIVO.
TEXT: Car Styling
PHOTO: Tatsuo Nagano
Materials provided by: MOTIVO
“MOTIVO” — Boasting a Scale That Ranks Among the Best in China
MOTIVO was founded in 2011 and currently operates with a workforce of approximately 700 employees. In addition to its design center and factory in Shanghai, the company has a First and Second Factory in Zhejiang Province, as well as a factory in Changchun (Jilin Province). Furthermore, a new facility with a total floor area of 17,000 square meters is currently under construction in Shanghai.
MOTIVO’s operations span a wide range of services. These include vehicle styling and engineering, 3D digital design, digital verification models, high-quality display models, concept cars and production-based show cars, Class A data provision, sheet metal prototyping for production vehicles, small-lot production of exterior panels, and the manufacture of luxury recreational vehicles. The company has already evolved well beyond the realm of a traditional model shop, transforming into an engineering support company that provides comprehensive backing to automakers.
At the heart of the Shanghai Design Center is the production of show models. It was remarkable to learn that approximately 30 to 40 percent of the show models exhibited at the Beijing and Shanghai Motor Shows are produced by MOTIVO. The company’s strength lies in its technical capability to handle even the most complex models, and it maintains business relationships with multiple automakers both inside and outside China, including strong ties with Japanese OEMs. In recent years, MOTIVO has also been looking toward global expansion — plans to establish a base within Japan are currently underway, and sales activities targeting English-speaking markets in North America and Europe are beginning to take shape. Looking ahead, the company aims to build a contract design and model production framework across multiple countries.
Currently regarded as China’s top model maker in both volume and scope of operations, MOTIVO is actively diversifying its service portfolio — advancing into areas such as white body prototyping, exterior design and styling for production vehicles, and next-generation technologies including AI, OLED displays, and specialty monitors. Going forward, the company aims to evolve beyond contract model production into a full-service “solutions company” capable of handling everything from design and engineering through to manufacturing in an integrated, end-to-end manner.
Key challenges in China include maintaining quality and developing talent. Those in charge state unequivocally that changing the mindset of employees is essential to raising the quality of output and elevating awareness on the production floor. Employee retention also appears to be an ongoing challenge in the Chinese context. What came through strongly was the sense that MOTIVO is steadily and sincerely working through these improvement goals, one step at a time, as the foundation of where it stands today.
End of Part 1: MOTIVO