Royal Leamington Spa, England – General Motors has expanded its global design studio footprint with the official opening of a new advanced design studio in Royal Leamington Spa, about 20 miles from Birmingham.

In connection with the opening, GM revealed an advanced design study Chevrolet Corvette concept car developed by the UK team as part of a global design project involving multiple studios that will see additional Corvette concepts revealed throughout 2025.

The studio opening also provided a first glimpse of a GMC concept vehicle to be revealed later in 2025, developed in partnership with the GMC design team in Detroit.

GM’s design teams regularly work on conceptual design studies that are intended to drive ideation, innovation, and collaboration across the company.

With the opening of the UK studio, GM continues to demonstrate its commitment to Europe as the company scales its Cadillac electric vehicle business there, while also preparing to launch Corvette sales across the UK and mainland Europe.
The UK design studio is an integral part of GM’s global design footprint, providing valuable insights into European customer and cultural trends and introducing new talent and fresh perspectives into GM’s global network. GM’s global design footprint also spans studios in Detroit, Los Angeles, Shanghai, and Seoul.

The UK studio is led by Julian Thomson, a deeply experienced automotive designer who has worked with some of the industry’s most recognized brands. The 24,584-square-foot Royal Leamington Spa studio, which employs more than 30 designers and creative team members, is outfitted for both digital and physical clay model development.
"Our advanced design team’s mandate extends well beyond creating production vehicles," said Michael Simcoe, senior VP of global design. "While they collaborate within our global design network on production and concept vehicle programs, these teams are primarily tasked with imagining what mobility could look like five, 10, and even 20 years into the future and driving innovation for GM."

The Corvette nameplate has long been leveraged to introduce experimental cars, concepts and prototypes that push the boundaries of automotive design and engineering, and the new UK design concept is no exception. While there is no production intention behind this concept, the GM UK Design team undertook this exercise to rethink what a Corvette could be with a true blank-page approach.

“As part of the Corvette creative study, we asked multiple studios to develop hypercar concepts, which we’ll see more of later this year,” Simcoe said. “It was important that they all pay homage to Corvette’s historic DNA, but each studio brought their own unique creative interpretation to the project. That is exactly what our advanced design studio network is intended to do – push the envelope, challenge convention and imagine what could be.”

The UK team’s concept subtly incorporates Corvette’s iconic design heritage into a futuristic aesthetic focused on clean forms and muscular shapes. The design draws inspiration from the aviation industry, both in the sculptural and functional elements.

“One of the most unusual and significant aspects of our concept’s design is a feature known as Apex Vision,” said Thomson. “A nod to Corvette’s centerline focus, and inspired by the iconic ‘split window’ 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray, this feature emphasizes a singular vertical central spine that is also a structural element, also providing a panoramic view of the road and surroundings.”

The exterior design includes a distinctive division between the upper and lower halves of the vehicle. The upper half captures the Corvette’s classic design elements, but in a futuristic manner. The lower half focuses on functional technical design, including EV battery technology embedded into the structure and aerodynamics elements designed to channel air efficiently without the need for wings or spoilers.

Concept technical specifications and assumptions:

Body structure:

Additive manufacturing body structure
For low mass, manufacturing efficiency, part count reduction and driving agility
Halo roof structure with windshield center spar

Body panels:

Additive manufactured structure exposed for lightweight authenticity
Part integration, panel count reduction

Closures:

Full wrap around side glass to deliver Apex Vision
Powered wing door design

Aero-Duality:

On-road efficiency and on-track performance in harmony
Fan assistance and active ducting to redirect air over and through the vehicle
On-road: flowing forms, functional intakes and vented surfaces
On road: air directed through vehicles to fill its wake, increasing efficiency and range
On track: like an aircraft wing, aero surfaces reconfigure, dorsal fins deploy and spoiler venting creates aero vectoring to enhance cornering performance
Sculpted underbody, lowered ride height and fan assistance delivers ground effect

Chassis:

Racecar inspired, package efficient, pushrod suspension set-up

Interface:

Windshield center spar augmented display

Dimensions:

1033mm tall / 2178mm width / 4669mm length
22inch front wheel / 23inch rear wheel
127mm seat height – race car inspired

Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet. Make that Cricket, bangers and mash and Corvette.

General Motors Co. celebrated the opening of its new international design studio in the United Kingdom Monday with the introduction of a Chevrolet Corvette hypercar concept designed by its British design team. In keeping with GM’s aggressive move into European markets with Corvette and electric Cadillac sales, the ‘Vette design concept is battery-powered, though GM says there are no production plans as yet.

The striking UK prototype is the first in a series of Corvette designs that will roll out of multiple studios in 2025 as the brand reimagines its halo car for a ninth generation and beyond. Hypercar generally refers to a sports car featuring in excess of 1,000 horsepower, a feat the 1,064 horsepower, 2025 Corvette ZR1 has achieved for the first time.

The futuristic, British concept bears mid-engine proportions like the current, eight-generation, V-8-powered, C8 sport scar, but GM says that the battery is integrated into the chassis. The low-slung design is lower and about a foot wider than C8.

GM’s design teams regularly work on futuristic concepts intended to drive innovation, and collaboration across the company. The concept also bears signature, throwback design elements like a split window first seen on the rear of the 1963 Corvette. The twist? The concept’s front windshield is split.

“As part of the Corvette creative study, we asked multiple studios to develop hypercar concepts, which we’ll see more of later this year,” said GM Senior Vice President of Global Design Michael Simcoe.
“It was important that they all pay homage to Corvette’s historic DNA, but each studio brought their own unique creative interpretation to the project.
That is exactly what our advanced design studio network is intended to do push the envelope, challenge convention and imagine what could be.”

The new studio is located in Royal Leamington Spa in the West Midlands region of England, about 20 miles south of Birmingham and 100 miles north of London. It’s also about 35 miles west of Silverstone Park, where Cadillac F1 has located its Formula One race team and chassis design operations.

Cadillac is the tip of the spear in the General’s plans to go all-electric, and the luxury brand has its eyes on international markets like Europe, backed by the marketing power of its F1 team that will debut for the 2026 season. But Corvette already has significant international exposure through racing, having competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France as well as other international racing venues since 2000 with nine wins at the classic French race to its credit.

Cadillac has opened its flagship showroom in the middle of Paris, and Chevrolet is preparing to launch Corvette sales across the UK and into mainland Europe.

The 24,584-square-foot studio is intended to further connect GM to European customer and cultural trends by employing fresh talent. The office expands a global design footprint that includes studios in Detroit, Los Angeles, Shanghai, China and Seoul, South Korea.

"Our advanced design team’s mandate extends well beyond creating production vehicles," said Simcoe.
"While they collaborate within our global design network on production and concept vehicle programs, these teams are primarily tasked with imagining what mobility could look like five, 10, and even 20 years into the future and driving innovation for GM."

The UK studio employs 30 team members and is outfitted for both digital and clay model development. The team is led by veteran designer Julian Thomson who has penned noteworthy designs like the Lotus Elise, Land Rover LRX (Evoque) concept, and until 2021 oversaw Jaguar's advanced design department.

The ‘Vette concept is particularly focused on structural innovation. The design is split in two halves, with the upper body focused on Corvette-inspired form and the lower half focused on function and how to integrate the battery into the chassis both structurally and aerodynamically. Even the split window feature is functional.

“One of the most unusual and significant aspects of our concept’s design is a feature known as Apex Vision,” said designer Thomson. “A nod to Corvette’s centerline focus and inspired by the iconic ‘split window’ 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray, this feature emphasizes a singular vertical central spine that is also a structural element, also providing a panoramic view of the road and surroundings.”

The concept itself is a product of 3D-printed, additive manufacturing. Inspired by aviation principles, the body is essentially an inverted aircraft wing that without tacked on spoilers and wings uses surfacing, dorsal fins, and venting to create downforce, sucking the car to the road.

Gull-wing doors open to a sparse, two-seat interior.

Corvette has a history of daring design dating back to the 1964 Duntov Mule, 1961 Mako Shark , 1964 CERV II and 1990 CERV III the latter pair foreshadowing the first mid-engined Corvette in 2020.

Twenty miles from Birmingham England in Royal Leaminton Spa, England GM has their global design studio, an advanced design studio that is tasked with creating special projects for the divisions of GM.
In this case, the UK design studio was tasked with creating the first of three Corvette Concepts that will usher in the C9 next generation performance car. GM's global design network spans studios in Detroit, Los Angeles, Shanghai, and Seoul. Prepare for a year of Excitement!!!!

These concepts will be revealed throughout 2025 showing the inspiration that is to come to the future of performance driving. This Corvette Concept 1 is the start of driving ideation, innovation and collaboration across the GM global family.
This first concept is to show the working production scale of Cadillac's electric vehicle business in Europe and to prepare the launch of Corvette sales across the UK and Mainland Europe in 2025.

Michael Simcoe, Senior VP of Global Design had this to say:

"Our advanced design team’s mandate extends well beyond creating production vehicles. While they collaborate within our global design network on production and concept vehicle programs, these teams are primarily tasked with imagining what mobility could look like five, 10, and even 20 years into the future and driving innovation for GM."

Using a blank-page approach, the UK studio acknowledged the long history of the corvette nameplate and how it has been leveraged to introduce experimental cars, concepts and prototypes that push the boundaries of automotive design and engineering, and the new UK design concept is no exception.
The production team knows that no production intention is behind the concepts, but that these working prototypes are to gauge customer reaction both positively and negatively to the style, design elements and potential production pieces.

Simcoe stated: “As part of the Corvette creative study, we asked multiple studios to develop hypercar concepts, which we’ll see more of later this year. It was important that they all pay homage to Corvette’s historic DNA, but each studio brought their own unique creative interpretation to the project.
That is exactly what our advanced design studio network is intended to do push the envelope, challenge convention and imagine what could be.”

Drawing inspiration from the aviation industry in stealth fighters, the UK team incorporated iconic design elements of the Corvette with a futuristic clean form plus muscular shape to what the Corvette could be.

Pointed out as one of the most unusual and significant aspects of this concept's design is the inspired centerline focus of the front, which is inspired by the Split Rear Window of the 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray. This feature is a singular vertical central spine that is also an acting structural element in the roof, providing a panoramic view of the road and surroundings.

This design includes a two distinctive auto body design. The upper half capturing classic Corvette design elements. The lower half focused on the future of technology, including EV battery technology embedded into the structure and aerodynamic elements that are designed to channel air efficiently without the need for wings or spoilers.

Concept technical specifications and assumptions:

Body structure:

Additive manufacturing body structure
For low mass, manufacturing efficiency, part count reduction and driving agility
Halo roof structure with windshield center spar

Body panels:

Additive manufactured structure exposed for lightweight authenticity
Part integration, panel count reduction

Closures:

Full wrap around side glass to deliver Apex Vision
Powered wing door design

Aero-Duality:

On-road efficiency and on-track performance in harmony
Fan assistance and active ducting to redirect air over and through the vehicle
On-road: flowing forms, functional intakes and vented surfaces
On road: air directed through vehicles to fill its wake, increasing efficiency and range
On track: like an aircraft wing, aero surfaces reconfigure, dorsal fins deploy and spoiler venting creates aero vectoring to enhance cornering performance
Sculpted underbody, lowered ride height and fan assistance delivers ground effect

Chassis:

Racecar inspired, package efficient, pushrod suspension set-up

Interface:

Windshield center spar augmented display
1033mm tall / 2178mm width / 4669mm length (40.66 inches tall x 86 inches wide x 184 inches long)
22-inch front wheel / 23-inch rear wheel
127mm (5 inches) seat height – race car inspired