Audi wants to buy an electric platform from a Chinese car company? Who has the best chance of winning

There has been a lot of news about Audi recently. Two weeks ago, at the Volkswagen Group Capital Day, the CEO thought that Audi's performance was not as expected, and then announced the decision to change the coach of Audi.

But obviously, these actions are just the first step. Today, German Auto Weekly broke a new story, saying that in order to cope with the fierce competition of electric vehicles in the Chinese market, Audi intends to buy the authorization of electric platforms directly from the competitors of Chinese electric vehicle enterprises, which can shorten the development time.

This news is still a bit cracked. German luxury brands intend to buy electric platform authorization from Chinese car companies, which is tantamount to admitting in disguise that they are really not as skilled as others in electric vehicle technology?

Such a hot rumor, we tried to contact Audi China to give a reply at the first time, but failed.

However, this does not prevent us from following up this clue, because on Weibo, netizens have heated up discussions. Once hearing that Audi is going to cooperate with Chinese electric vehicle enterprises, let's not rely on it, but think about the name first.

One thing to say, I will convince Chinese netizens about eating melons.

Of course, some people also questioned that this matter is too unreliable. The Volkswagen Group is one of the best in terms of platforms, especially electric vehicle platforms. Audi can't solve this problem in the group, so why ask for help from Chinese car companies?

Volkswagen Group itself has three electric exclusive platforms, MEB, PPE and SSP. Previously, due to the slow progress of software research and development, the landing speed of the latter two platforms was much slower than expected, but Volkswagen Group has caught up.

Aobo Mu, CEO of Capital Day, stressed that Audi will officially launch the first pure electric new car Q6 e-tron based on the Volkswagen Group's PPE platform in 2024, and promised that although software research and development affected the progress, another SSP platform Audi participated in research and development will be launched in 2026 as originally planned.

If the German media report is not groundless, either Audi is not satisfied with the landing speed of the two platforms at present, or these two platforms are not enough to support its future electric product lineup.

Because according to the previous plan, Audi will launch 20 new cars by 2025, 10 of which are pure electric vehicles; Audi will only launch pure electric vehicles in 2026, and will gradually stop producing diesel locomotives in 2033.

Judging from the landing time of the two existing platforms, the time is really tight and the task is heavy. From this point of view, it is also a good way to find out the existing electric platform authorization of Chinese automobile enterprises and develop new cars directly on the mature platform.

Then the question arises. If Audi is really talking about cooperation with "a competitor", who is most likely?

First, let's see what mature platforms the domestic electric vehicle enterprises have. The more famous ones are BYD e3 （ parameter | picture ）. 0, Jili Haohan, Chang'an EPA, GAC AEP3.0, SAIC Nebula, Weilai NT2.0 and Xiaopeng Fuyao.

BYD itself has Denza As well as looking up to these high-end brands, the positioning of Weilai is the same. Both of them are in a competitive relationship with Audi. It is unlikely to talk about cooperation and authorization again.

Geely Group's vast platform has been applied to Geely, Volvo, Lutes, Smart and other brands, and it is also on the way of technology licensing. In November last year, it signed an agreement with Polish automobile manufacturer ElectroMobility Poland to authorize the other party's vast architecture.

Therefore, although there are high-end brands under Geely Group that compete with Audi, this possibility is not ruled out.

GAC, Chang'an and Audi have no basis for cooperation, and their positioning seems unable to meet Audi's high-end needs, so SAIC is the most likely one.

SAIC and Audi have their own joint venture and cooperation. To authorize the nebula platform to SAIC Audi, and add another luxury brand to Zhiji, Feifan, Roewe and Mingjue, it is also considered as a fertile land. In any case, SAIC GM has its own special platform and is not interested in nebulae.

Of course, these are all our guesses. After all, the official did not make a statement. If you have your own views, you are welcome to discuss them in the comment area.