Official announcement of Audi SAIC!

On May 20, SAIC Motor Corporation and Audi announced the formal signing of a cooperation agreement, and the two sides will jointly develop a new platform focused on the Chinese market - the Advanced Digital Platform. This is further progress after the two sides signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Deepening Strategic Cooperation in July 2023.

From the content of the press release released by both parties, both parties will build a new generation of high-end intelligent connected vehicles based on the platform. This cooperation mode has greatly shortened the launch cycle of Audi products by more than 30%. It is understood that the first models built based on this platform will be three pure electric models covering the B-class and C-class car segments, and the new models will be equipped with the industry's top software and hardware. Among them, the first pure electric vehicle will be launched in 2025.

On July 26, 2023, SAIC Group and Audi signed a memorandum of understanding. The two sides will combine their respective advantages to accelerate the development of SAIC Audi's new electric vehicle models to meet the needs of Chinese users for high-end electric intelligent connected vehicles. According to the press release at that time, both parties may be based on the exclusive series platform of Pure Electric "SAIC Nebula （ parameter | picture ）”Through cooperation, the platform can derive different levels of pure electric exclusive architecture, covering the global market of compact cars, medium-sized cars, medium and large cars, luxury cars and sedans, sports cars, SUVs, MPVs and other multi-level, multi category finished vehicles.

With the signing of a formal cooperation agreement between SAIC and Audi this time, it means that the two sides will work together to develop electric vehicles. It is understood that a joint project management team based on this cooperation has been set up, and Ferm í n Soneira from Audi will be the CEO. He said: "This joint project highlights the essence of cooperation of" the United States and the United States, and a new chapter is opened together. "We will jointly promote development, purchase, 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. "

At present, the pattern of the electric vehicle market is being reshaped. For the cooperation between SAIC Group and Audi in the research and development of electric vehicles, the industry believes that the behind of this initiative is not significantly related to the effect of SAIC Group and Audi brands in the electrification transformation in recent years.

Take Audi as an example. At present, China is the largest single market of Audi in the world, but its market performance in China is poor. Oliver Blume, CEO of Volkswagen Group, has publicly admitted that Audi brand lags behind its competitors, especially in electric vehicles, and promised to revitalize Audi's highlight moment in the future. It should be noted that as one of the luxury brands of Volkswagen Group, Audi does not have its own exclusive electric platform, and its electric vehicles are all built using four electric vehicle platforms shared by Volkswagen Group brands, including J1 high-performance electric platform, MEB platform, MLB evo platform and PPE platform. Among them, the J1 platform is used to create high-end pure electric car models, such as Porsche and Audi e-tron GT ； MEB platform is used to build the entry level model of Volkswagen ID and pure electric vehicle; MLB evo platform is mainly used to manufacture fuel vehicles.

According to the official website, Audi's new energy vehicles currently sold in China include Q2L e-tron, A6L e-tron, Q4 e-tron, e-tron, and Q5L e-tron, but their sales performance is not outstanding. Retail data shows that from January to April this year, the cumulative sales volume of Q4 e-tron was 4970, that of Q5 e-tron was 1450, that of e-tron was 292, and that of Q2L e-tron was 5.

At present, Audi has three joint ventures in China, including FAW-VW, SAIC Audi and Audi FAW. Audi has more dominance in Audi FAW. The company will focus on the development of new energy vehicles, which is regarded as the key for Audi to expand the lineup of electric vehicles in China and even the world. It is understood that FAW Audi's new pure electric SUV Q6L e-tron has been unveiled at the 2024 Beijing Auto Show. It is based on the new PPE platform, and is also the first Audi model based on this new electric vehicle platform. The new car will be mass produced in the fourth quarter of this year in the new factory of FAW Audi. The first products are expected to be delivered to customers in 2025.

As a traditional luxury brand, Audi knows that only accelerating the pace of electrification transformation can reduce the possibility of falling behind. After the cooperation between Audi and SAIC, Audi will further expand the lineup of pure electric vehicles in China. In this regard, Gernot D ö llner, the global CEO of Audi, said that the deepening cooperation marks another important milestone for Audi to promote its strategy in China. Through cooperation with SAIC, Audi will further accelerate the promotion of its electrification strategy in China. As for whether Audi will be able to see another scene after cooperating with SAIC, it needs more time to verify.

According to Audi's new energy strategy, Audi will invest 35 billion euros by 2025, with 20 pure electric vehicles, and about one-third of the vehicles delivered worldwide will come from new energy vehicles; From 2026, Audi will only launch pure electric vehicles to the global market. By 2033, the production of internal combustion engine models will be gradually stopped, and the brand electrification transformation will be comprehensively accelerated. At that time, Audi's own production bases around the world will be put into the production of electric vehicles.