GAC’s badge is heading to Melbourne City’s shorts from the 2026/27 A-League season. It’s the brand’s second Australian football sponsorship in three months, after signing Sydney FC back in May.
GAC and Melbourne City FC confirmed a multi-year partnership at AAMI Park on 24 July, naming GAC as the club’s Official Automotive Partner from the new season. The logo lands on the playing shorts of both the A-League Men’s and Women’s teams, backed by match-day activations at AAMI Park, fan engagement experiences, player appearances and digital content collaborations across Melbourne City’s platforms.
A second A-League club in three months
This isn’t GAC’s first run at Australian football. The brand signed Sydney FC to a three-season deal in May, taking the right sleeve position on that club’s Men’s, Women’s and Academy kits as a Premium Partner. Melbourne City gives GAC a presence in both of the country’s two biggest football markets before a ball is even kicked in the new season. Two A-League clubs in three months is a serious budget commitment for a manufacturer that only landed its first showroom stock here in late 2025, and it points to a marketing plan built well ahead of the brand’s sales numbers rather than in response to them.
Shorts, not shirt
Kit real estate isn’t created equal. GAC has now picked up the sleeve at Sydney FC and the shorts at Melbourne City. GAC’s logo will clock plenty of screen time across a season of matches at AAMI Park, but a shorts placement has to work harder for recognition than a badge sitting front and centre on the shirt.
What the executives said
GAC International Australia CEO Kevin Shu pitched the deal as a match of ambition, pointing to Melbourne City’s “incredible history in all A-League competitions” and describing GAC’s own approach as giving “100% effort to all that we do.” Melbourne City CEO Brad Rowse called GAC “part of the Melbourne City family,” welcoming a partner that shares the club’s drive to “innovate, challenge expectations and invest for the long term.”
Thirty million cars and counting
GAC isn’t a newcomer trying to buy credibility. The company built its 30 millionth vehicle earlier this year, a milestone traced back to its founding in Guangzhou in 1997. Its design and R&D network stretches from Guangzhou to Shanghai and Milan, and the Melbourne City deal sits under GAC’s stated “In Australia, For Australia” localisation push rather than a straight export operation run out of head office.
Four models and a young showroom
GAC’s Australian range is still filling out. It launched here in late 2025 with 2 New Energy models together: the Aion V mid-size electric SUV, and the M8 PHEV people-mover. The Aion UT compact EV hatch joined the lineup from June 2026.
| Model | Segment | Powertrain | Price from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aion UT | Compact hatch | Electric | $31,990 |
| Aion V | Medium SUV | Electric | $42,590 |
| M8 PHEV | People-mover | PHEV | $76,590 |
Prices are before on-road costs. It’s a genuinely broad spread for a brand that has been on sale here less than a year, running from a sub-$32,000 EV hatch through to a PHEV people-mover pushing past $80,000 in Luxury guise. A football sponsorship of this size only makes sense if GAC is planning to keep adding metal to that range, and the brand has already flagged more models arriving through 2027.
Melbourne City’s recent form
Melbourne City brings genuine pedigree to the partnership, even if it looks different depending on which team you follow. The Men’s side beat Melbourne Victory 1-0 in the first-ever Melbourne Derby Grand Final in 2024/25, City’s second A-League Men championship, in front of a sold-out AAMI Park crowd of almost 30,000. The following season was quieter: City finished sixth and went out in an elimination final, with Auckland FC taking the title. The Women’s team has had no such dip, claiming a fifth premiership and championship double in 2025/26 to remain the most dominant side in that competition.
Season kicks off in October
The partnership formally begins with the 2026/27 season, with the A-League Men’s opening round set down for 17 October. Expect GAC to lean into the fan engagement and community side of the deal well before then, given how much of the announcement was built around activation and digital content rather than the shorts branding alone. Whether shorts sponsorship on an A-League club shifts metal in the showroom is a different question, and one GAC won’t be able to answer until well into the new season.
