In the new market environment, there is no way out for internal mutual roll.
Following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Deepening Strategic Cooperation in July 2023, SAIC Group and Audi Auto officially signed a cooperation agreement on May 20, marking a new stage of cooperation between the two sides.
According to the cooperation agreement, the two sides jointly developed a new platform "Advanced Digital Platform" for the Chinese market, and built a new generation of high-end intelligent connected vehicles based on this platform. The first model will be launched in 2025. The first batch of models to be jointly built will be three pure electric models, covering the B-class and C-class car segments, and the product launch cycle will be significantly shortened by more than 30%.
Audi Q6 e-tron.
Wang Xiaoqiu, President of SAIC Group, pointed out that "Audi has a strong capability in high-end model product definition, vehicle R&D and engineering technology, and SAIC Group leads the industry in intelligent electric innovation technology. The two sides will work together to enable SAIC Audi's future development through this cooperation."
It can be seen that SAIC Audi is trying to strengthen intelligence and other aspects while emphasizing Audi's definition of products to enhance competitiveness. At the same time, it can also form differentiation with FAW Audi to avoid internal competition. Jia Jianxu, general manager of SAIC Volkswagen, also said frankly: "It's meaningless for 'North South Audi' to fight each other and 'roll' each other."
Audi joined hands with SAIC to increase speed and reduce cost
"Audi's iconic aesthetics and engineering design complement SAIC's innovative potential, and will bring intuitive and connected digital experience and advanced automatic driving functions to Chinese consumers." Gernot D ö llner, Audi's global CEO, said at the signing ceremony.
At the moment when China's high-end smart cars are launched in a large area, luxury brands have rarely mentioned the word "advanced". Even considering the technical output of SAIC Group, SAIC and Audi have to accelerate the pace of research and development in order to maintain "advanced" cooperation projects.
"Through the cooperation with SAIC Group, we will further accelerate the promotion of electrification strategy in China." Gao Denuo said that thanks to the new cooperation mode, the launch time of ADP platform models will be shortened by more than 30%. "The models of the first cooperation projects will cover the Class B and Class C markets, and the first product is expected to be launched in 2025."
An industry figure told Time Finance that it usually takes several years for BBA to develop a model, and the first model will be launched in 2025, which means its efficiency is almost in line with the new car making forces. "This was unthinkable in the past, and this cooperation has obviously accelerated."
Song Feiming served as the CEO of this cooperation project.
Ferm í n Soneira, head of Audi A-C electric vehicle product line, will be the CEO of this cooperation project. He is confident of this cooperation: "We will jointly promote development, procurement, production and sales. As both sides devote their core advantages, I firmly believe Audi will make full use of "China's speed" and market innovation vitality to continue to shape the future of high-end electric travel. "
In addition to speed, intelligence is also emphasized. Volkswagen has cooperated with Xiaopeng Automobile, while Audi has chosen SAIC Group, forming a differentiated pattern.
Zero beam technology under SAIC Group will inject "intelligent digital soul" into the cooperation between Audi and SAIC. The R&D roadmap for the full stack solution of Zero Beam Galaxy smart cars shows that the 1.0 smart solution of Zero Beam Galaxy full stack will be mass produced in the fourth quarter of 2021, and currently hundreds of thousands of vehicles have been carried; Zero beam Galaxy stack 3.0 will be mass produced in 2025, and 4.0 is planned to be mass produced in 2027. From the perspective of the road map, SAIC Audi's new pure electric model, which will be launched in 2025, is expected to be equipped with Zero Beam Galaxy full stack 3.0 intelligent solution.
Li Jun, CEO of Zero Beam Technology, said: "The new car will be equipped with the industry's and the world's top software, hardware and electric performance, as well as a smoother and more friendly intelligent interaction experience."
According to SAIC Group, the "new species of luxury" born from the "intelligent digital platform" will combine Audi's aesthetic design and technological standards with SAIC Group's intelligent pure electric technology. Jia Jianxu revealed in an interview with the media that the Audi electric vehicle model launched under the cooperation project will have a new product series name, and will not be placed under the well-known Audi existing electric vehicle product series e-tron.
There are two key words in the cooperation between SAIC and Audi, one is to increase speed, the other is to reduce cost. At present, the "price war" has swept the automotive industry. Even luxury brands have to reduce costs to improve their competitiveness.
On May 20, SAIC Motor Corporation and Audi Auto officially signed a cooperation agreement.
Jia Jianxu, general manager of SAIC Volkswagen, said in a media interview: "SAIC has the best parts system in China and the best electrification partner. What SAIC brings behind is the rapid development of China's electric vehicle industry, and Audi is interested in this opportunity." He also revealed that SAIC Volkswagen Anting plant will start its transformation on May 24, It is planned to launch new Audi models in ten months. "The new car will be equipped with 5/6C ultra fast charging technology, and reduce the loading capacity of power batteries by reducing low-voltage power consumption, so as to achieve the purpose of cost reduction."
As for the cooperation between SAIC Group and Audi, Pan Helin, a well-known economist, said to Time Finance: "This cooperation is Audi's cooperation with SAIC in the fields of intelligence and other aspects when it sees the industrial advantages of China's automobile electrification and intelligence. It also shows that Chinese and foreign automobile enterprises have entered a new stage of technology output."
The rival of "South Audi" is not "North Audi"
The cooperation between SAIC and Audi has once again aroused the attention of the outside world to the "North South Audi".
As the only brand in BBA that has two joint ventures in China, SAIC Audi has limited competitive space compared with FAW Audi, which has more products.
In the field of fuel vehicles, the main models of Audi are mainly manufactured and sold by FAW Audi. The first car model A7L and SUV model Q6 launched by SAIC Audi have low volume after being launched. In the field of new energy vehicles, SAIC Audi has only one model Q5 e-tron.
You Tianyu, the managing director of Kailian Capital and the director partner of the Industrial Research Institute, said to Times Finance: "The market is changing faster and faster. BBA's momentum is still very strong when the two sides discuss cooperation, but SAIC Audi's first car soon went on the market and experienced a transformation in the market environment. In 2022, the number of self owned brand electric cars will rise, making SAIC Audi's sales less than expected."
In order to boost the sales of its models, SAIC Audi played the price card. In 2023, SAIC Audi officials announced to reduce the guiding price of some models equipped with A7L, Q6 and Q5 e-tron, with a maximum price reduction of 20000 yuan.
Audi A7L.
Official data shows that in the first quarter of 2024, SAIC Audi will deliver more than 12000 sets, with a year-on-year growth of about 430%. In terms of growth rate, SAIC Audi has made some progress, but the overall market size is not high.
Audi also launched a new electric platform to FAW. In October 2020, Audi and FAW Group signed a memorandum of understanding to establish Audi FAW New Energy Vehicle Co., Ltd. The new generation of PPE electric platform is introduced to FAW, and the new model is also sold by FAW Audi sales company. At this year's Beijing Auto Show, the first pure electric vehicle Q6L e-tron based on the PPE platform was officially unveiled.
In this context, "differentiation" is a step that SAIC Audi has to take. This joint development of a new platform is also an important attempt to further form differentiated development.
As for the product difference between the "intelligent digital platform" announced by Audi and SAIC and the PPE project of Audi FAW, Jia Jianxu said that PPE is a global platform, and the new "intelligent digital platform" is tailored to the new energy and intelligent needs of Chinese consumers under the global architecture, and focuses on different levels of cars in products.
Jia Jianxu said frankly: "We need to re establish a high-end brand to a higher position, which is what we need to do today. Instead of 'North South Audi' fighting each other, we 'roll' each other, which is meaningless."
Song Feiming also said that even if there is competition, it must be external competition, not internal competition. Products will be more differentiated and subdivided to better highlight advantages.
On the one hand, the planning of the enterprise determines that "North and South Audi" must compete in a misplaced way; On the other hand, in the new market environment, there is no way out for internal mutual volume.
From Tianyu to Time Finance, SAIC Audi's rivals are no longer limited to BBA. "In the early years, the price of self owned brand models was low and did not overlap with the price band of BBA, so BBA only had its own competitors. Now all domestic products with similar prices and positioning to BBA are competitors of BBA."
Yutianyu's attitude towards the prospect of SAIC Audi's new products is "cautious and optimistic". "In the past, German and Japanese were defining cars, but now the car form is more defined by new car making forces, including smart cockpit and other aspects. It is not difficult to be accepted by the market, but too similar to ensure differentiation and brand premium. Audi has a strong ability to define cars, but the market has a lot of variables, so it can only be said to be cautious and optimistic."
Audi, seeing the new trend, is looking for changes. The cooperation between multinational car companies and Chinese car companies has also become a microcosm of the current competitive environment.
In 2023, Audi parent company Volkswagen reached cooperation with China's new car brand Xiaopeng Automobile, announcing the joint development of two intermediate electric vehicles within three years; A few days before SAIC Motor Corporation and Audi reached this cooperation, Stellantis Group and Zero Run Auto jointly announced that Zero Run International was officially established and will be first sold in Europe in September 2024; Hyundai Motor Group also disclosed at the Hi Tech Super Technology Day in South Korea last year that "the electric vehicle project cooperated by Hyundai and BAIC Group is in progress."
After 40 years of joint venture mode, with the wave of new energy and the development of China's own brands, "technology export" and "reverse joint venture" are becoming a new trend.
