Aria

Aria is a comprehensive automotive design and engineering company headquartered in Irvine, California, USA, founded by designers Gregory Krehel and Clive Hawkins in 1995. Unlike traditional car manufacturers focused on mass production of their own brands, Aria's core positioning is as a B2B engineering technology service provider offering full-chain solutions, with a business scope covering design, engineering development, prototype manufacturing, and advanced manufacturing solutions in high-end manufacturing fields such as automotive, aerospace, entertainment, and maritime. The brand is renowned for all-carbon fiber composite manufacturing, small-batch high-end customized production, and contract manufacturing for major global car companies, earning it the nickname "Designer's Designer" and the "Mastermind Behind Supercars." At the same time, Aria has also launched its own supercar, the FXE, aiming to create an American supercapable of directly competing with top-tier hypercars such as the McLaren P1 and Ferrari LaFerrari.

History

The story of Aria began in 1995, when founder Gregory Krehel established this design-centric studio in California. Initially, Aria mainly created specialized prop vehicles for the Hollywood film industry, gradually accumulating extensive experience in vehicle customization and modification. For the following twenty-plus years, the company developed into a concept car and prototype design and contract manufacturing partner for many top-tier automotive brands such as General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Tesla, Kia, Hyundai, BMW, Audi, and others, thanks to its outstanding design and engineering capabilities. Aria also maintains close ties with SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, in the aerospace field, while continuously contributing film prop vehicles for media giants such as Disney and DreamWorks. In 2017, Aria officially released its first brand supercar Aria FXE at the Los Angeles Auto Show, marking the company's move from the background into the spotlight. The car is officially claimed to output 1150 horsepower hybrid power, 0-100 km/h acceleration in 2.7 seconds, benchmarking against the "Holy Trinity" of hybrid supercars. Since 2024, Aria has actively expanded into the electric vehicle B2B platform, reaching cooperation agreements with emerging EV companies such as TELO Trucks and Everrati, and specifically establishing the Aria Composites Technologies subsidiary in 2025 to focus on composite material technology R&D and manufacturing. In early 2026, Aria jointly released a modular EV platform designed for low-volume manufacturers with Everrati at the CES Show, further expanding its technical landscape in the electrification era.

Product Portfolio

Aria's main products are divided into three sectors: own supercar models, client contract projects, and B2B electric vehicle platforms.

Aria FXE: The first supercar of Aria's own brand, globally launched at the 2017 Los Angeles Auto Show. The car provides two power configuration options: The pure fuel version is equipped with a 6.2-liter V8 supercharged engine derived from the Chevrolet Corvette, with a maximum power of 650 horsepower, paired with an 8-speed sequential transmission, 0-100 km/h acceleration in 3.1 seconds, top speed 350 km/h; The hybrid version adds two axial flux induction motors based on the 6.2-liter V8 engine, combined power 1150 horsepower, peak torque 1784 N·m, equipped with a 10 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, paired with a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission, 0-100 km/h acceleration in only 2.7 seconds, top speed 338 km/h. Body dimensions are 4470×1930×1139 mm, wheelbase 2709 mm, curb weight 1565 kg, featuring an all-carbon fiber body and 3D printed aluminum-titanium alloy wheels, standard Pirelli Trofeo R tires. FXE offers left-hand drive and right-hand drive configurations, produced via custom order production, limited to 400 units globally, starting price $1 million, originally planned for delivery at the end of 2019, latest public information shows the sales plan for 400 limited units is still in execution.

Client Contract Projects: Aria's core business sector, covering full-process design, engineering, and manufacturing for concept cars, show cars, and prototypes. Representative works include the GT4 Stinger concept car built for Kia, secret concept models developed for many mainstream car companies, and engineering support provided for aerospace projects such as SpaceX.

B2B Electric Vehicle Platform: To B business continuously expanded by Aria between 2024 and 2026. In June 2024, Aria signed with emerging electric pickup company TELO Trucks to hand-build the first two fully functional prototypes for them. In January 2026, Aria jointly released a B2B modular EV platform with British company Everrati at the CES Show, integrating Everrati's OEM-level electric powertrains with Aria's lightweight composite chassis architecture, providing one-stop EV solutions for low-volume manufacturers, specialty vehicle projects, legacy brands, and defense and off-road applications excluded by electrification costs.

Market Performance

Aria is not a mass-production car brand in the traditional sense; market performance is mainly reflected in the breadth of technical cooperation and contract manufacturing services, as well as the limited sales of own supercars. In terms of technical cooperation, Aria's partners cover almost all major global car manufacturers, from Japanese Toyota, Honda, Nissan, to American General Motors, Ford, Tesla, to German and Korean BMW, Audi, Kia, Hyundai, etc., all having had deep cooperation in design or engineering levels with Aria. In the film industry, Aria's prop vehicles built for "The Avengers" and multiple Disney and DreamWorks films have given it extremely high recognition in the Hollywood design community. In terms of own supercars, FXE, with a global limited release of 400 units and a starting price of $1 million, cuts directly into the niche market of top supercar brands like Pagani and Koenigsegg. FXE's exact actual delivery number up to 2026 is not publicly disclosed, and the model maintains the scarcity and exclusive value of independent hand-built supercars among car collectors and niche supercar enthusiasts.

Technology and Innovation 

Aria's core technology advantages are concentrated in three fields: lightweight composite engineering, aerodynamic design, and customized whole vehicle manufacturing. In the composite field, Aria has over 30 years of carbon fiber and traditional composite processing experience, proficient in various composite processes such as prepreg, resin infusion, and resin transfer molding, widely used in manufacturing lightweight structural parts ranging from automotive chassis to aircraft fuselage sections. In vehicle manufacturing, the FXE whole vehicle adopts Aria's patented integrated composite structure cockpit, combined with carbon fiber body panels and 3D printed aluminum-titanium alloy carbon fiber wheels, allowing the vehicle to control the curb weight within a reasonable range of 1565 kg while maintaining extremely high rigidity. Aerodynamics is another core strength of Aria. FXE abandoned active aerodynamic design, instead pursuing consistent aerodynamic characteristics under all speed conditions, thereby making the vehicle easier to drive and lowering the driving threshold for ordinary drivers. In terms of powertrain, the FXE hybrid version adopts a mid-mounted 6.2-liter V8 supercharged engine plus front axle dual motor layout scheme, paired with a 10 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, with the front axle motor driving the front wheels separately to achieve electric four-wheel drive layout. In terms of chassis and braking, FXE is equipped with a carbon ceramic braking system, multi-piston calipers, and Pirelli Trofeo R high-performance tires, sufficient to match the top power output of 1150 horsepower.

Global Presence

Aria headquarters is located in Irvine, California, USA, with business core focused on the North American market, partners covering car manufacturers from Japan, South Korea, Germany, France, United Kingdom, and other countries and regions. The engineering support provided by Aria for SpaceX extends the business tentacles to aerospace and even space exploration fields. At the B2B level, the new modular EV platform released at CES in 2026 has initiated active negotiations with potential customers in North America and Europe, with steady progress in expanding the European market. Aria has not yet established an official representative office in Mainland China. Aria brand vehicle manufacturing and customized services are completed at the Irvine headquarters, providing technology and service output to global customers, with products radiating to global car manufacturers and international customer groups via the headquarters platform.

Future Outlook

Aria is in a critical stage of transformation from a behind-the-scenes design engineering service provider to a core solution platform in the electric vehicle era. In terms of B2B platforms, the modular EV platform jointly developed with Everrati is expected to launch jointly developed mule and prototype cars between 2026 and 2027, providing compliant EV platforms for low-volume manufacturers to reduce development risks and shorten time-to-market. In terms of own supercars, the sales plan for FXE limited to 400 units will continue to be executed, with both pure fuel version and hybrid version product lines remaining in production status. In the composite material technology field, the Aria Composites Technologies established in 2025 will operate as an independent business unit, expected to take Aria's 30 years of experience in carbon fiber to a broader market. As the global automotive industry fully advances towards electrification, Aria, relying on its core advantages in lightweight composite materials, aerodynamics, and small-batch high-end customized manufacturing, is expected to establish unique competitive barriers in the niche market of high-end specialty vehicles and low-volume manufacturer EV platforms, continuing its continuous evolution from classic fuel sports cars to the new era of electrification.