IN Brief:
- DHL Supply Chain will manage AION's UK parts storage, inventory, fulfilment, and nationwide distribution.
- More than 1,250 genuine AION V part lines are stocked at launch with next-day delivery available across the UK.
- The logistics operation supports planned dealer growth from around 25 locations in 2026 towards approximately 100 by 2030.
DHL Supply Chain has established a dedicated UK aftermarket parts operation for AION, launching with more than 1,250 genuine AION V component lines and nationwide next-day distribution for retailers, repairers, and accredited workshops.
The contract covers parts storage, inventory management, order fulfilment, and distribution through DHL’s UK logistics network. The operation was prepared over several months ahead of AION’s market launch and is now supporting the first AION V vehicles delivered to UK customers.
The stockholding strategy gives the new automotive entrant a domestic parts base from its first customer deliveries rather than relying primarily on international replenishment after a repair order is placed. Retailers and service partners are being offered access to stocked components within 24 hours across the UK.
A fully digitised ordering system sits behind the operation, connecting parts demand with inventory and fulfilment. For workshops, the objective is to reduce the period between identifying a repair requirement and receiving the component needed to return the vehicle to service.
That is particularly important for a new automotive brand because vehicle sales can expand faster than the supporting aftermarket network if parts planning is treated as a secondary launch task. Cars may be manufactured thousands of miles from their sales market, while collision parts, electronic modules, trim, mechanical components, and routine service items need to be available close enough to the repair network to prevent excessive delays.
AION has therefore built the stockholding operation before its UK vehicle parc has grown materially. The company expects its dealer network to reach around 25 locations by the end of 2026 and has ambitions to expand to approximately 100 sites by 2030, increasing the number of workshops requiring routine access to stocked parts.
Ben Hurford, Aftersales Director at AION Auto UK, said: “Even before we sold our first car, we partnered with DHL to establish and stock up a dedicated UK parts warehouse so we can respond immediately when a workshop needs us to ship parts to them.”
The 1,250-line opening inventory gives the operation breadth, although long-term service performance will depend on more than the number of part numbers held. Forecast accuracy, stock depth, replenishment lead time, demand variability, and the availability of slow-moving but critical components will determine whether next-day fulfilment remains dependable as the installed vehicle base increases.
Automotive aftermarket logistics is an awkward inventory problem because many components move infrequently while carrying a high service penalty when unavailable. Holding every possible part in volume is expensive, but relying on international emergency shipments can create long repair times and unpredictable freight costs.
A domestic warehouse allows those pressures to be managed through segmentation. High-frequency service and repair parts can be stocked more deeply, while slower lines can be held in smaller quantities and replenished according to actual consumption, vehicle parc growth, and failure patterns.
The model also gives AION and DHL access to demand data from the outset. A digital ordering platform can show which components are moving, which dealers are generating demand, and where stock should be rebalanced, allowing the initial inventory profile to be refined as real UK service data replaces launch assumptions.
Paul Stone, Managing Director, Manufacturing Logistics at DHL Supply Chain UK & Ireland, said: “Fast, reliable access to parts is one of the most important factors in delivering a strong customer experience.”
That reliability has a direct logistics consequence. A next-day promise requires warehouse cut-off, picking, carrier injection, overnight transport, and final delivery to remain aligned, particularly where components are being delivered to workshops rather than conventional consumer addresses.
Size and handling characteristics add another variable. Automotive parts range from small electronic and mechanical items to bulky body panels, glazing, assemblies, and other products that do not fit neatly into standard parcel networks.
A mature aftermarket operation therefore needs routing options that can accommodate different dimensions and service priorities while maintaining accurate part identification. The wrong part delivered quickly is still a failed repair process.
The contract also illustrates the role third-party logistics providers can play when overseas manufacturers enter a new market. Rather than building warehousing, systems, labour, transport management, and nationwide delivery capability independently, the vehicle brand can use an established logistics network while retaining control over parts policy and customer-service standards.
AION was founded in 2017 by China’s GAC Group. Its UK operation is a joint venture between GAC and Jameel Motors, and the aftermarket arrangement forms part of the infrastructure being used to establish the brand in Britain.
The warehouse will become more demanding as that footprint expands. A stock profile sized around early AION V deliveries will have to evolve as vehicle numbers rise, additional models potentially enter the market, and workshops generate a larger history of actual repair demand.
The significant point is that aftermarket logistics has been treated as launch infrastructure rather than an afterthought. Selling the vehicle starts the customer relationship; keeping the correct component within a day’s reach of the workshop is the supply-chain work required to support it.
