Icona Design Group presented the world premiere of an innovative co-branded transport vehicle with JD, one of China's largest e-commerce companies. This project marks a milestone in the growth of the young Italian design company that has participated in all the Auto Shanghai shows since its foundation in 2010.
ICONA participates in Auto Shanghai 2019 with three achievements:
▪ The world premiere of an autonomous and completely new logistics vehicle, dedicated to the transport of goods
▪ The Space-Pod, a small autonomous robot, designed by Icona for the Meituan e-commerce platform, a Chinese leader among service companies. Presented for the first time at CES in Las Vegas in January 2019, it is now debuting on the eastern front
▪ 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 happened in Geneva, Beijing, Los Angeles, Paris and Monte Carlo
Teresio Gigi Gaudio, President & CEO of Icona Design, says: "ICONA collaborates with innovative companies rapidly growing that reinvent our daily experience in delivering and transporting goods to consumers. The Nucleus, the Space-Pod for Meituan and the third vehicle for JD are three aspects of the same revolutionary approach to urban mobility and the transport of people and goods."
The JinDong (JD) Autonomous Logistic Vehicle is a working prototype. Samuel Chuffart, VP & Global Design Director of Icon says: "This vehicle, designed by Icona and created with Chery and other partners for JD, is used for work inside JD spaces, with the function of covering the distance from the warehouses to the delivery stations and to the terminal delivery robots. The design is accessible, not intimidating. Its appearance communicates soberly, turning to the outside instead of forward: the intention is to allow an immediate and intuitive approach for the user and for those close to the vehicle. The aerodynamic surfaces and the solid double-sided silhouette underline the full versatility of this vehicle, so simple in its appearance and so rich in its performance."
In the future a vehicle like this could be used on campuses, in industrial parks and in other private and public controlled areas, and potentially on public roads, starting from roads with dedicated lanes.
From Geneva 2018, Icona's flagship project was the acclaimed Nucleus. "It is a concept car," says Chuffart, "which embodies the vision Icona for the mobility of tomorrow, anticipating the redefinition of automotive architecture with a completely autonomous driving technology on an electric hydrogen-powered platform."
ICONA Nucleus has received two Winner awards from the jury of the German Design Award 2019 (for the categories: Cars and Universal Design) and has inspired many other futuristic concept cars already presented to the market.
With these other two self-driving vehicles, Icona strengthens its ties with the mobility of the future, looking beyond the traditional transport of people and opening up its design research to new dimensions. "Our three studios in Turin, Shanghai and Los Angeles," says Gaudio, "are pushing the limits of innovation to the limit, with tangible benefits for all our customers."
▪ JinDong (JD) Autonomous Logistic Vehicle Dimensions: Length – 3,171 mm; width – 1,647 mm, height – 1,927 mm
