Audi halts sales of the e-tron GT in China

Automobilwoche has learnt from company sources that Audi will no longer offer the e-tron GT in China. The company later confirmed the move and officially justified the decision with the new corporate strategy: “Audi is pursuing the ‘In China for China’ approach. This means that the focus is on locally produced vehicles that are specifically tailored to the needs of Chinese customers.”

In other words, there is no longer any room in Audi’s China portfolio for the e-tron GT, which was built at the Böllinger Höfe plant in Neckarsulm. As the revised e-tron GT was described by Audi itself as the “spearhead of electric mobility” just a few weeks ago, this decision certainly has a symbolic effect.

However, the matter is obviously not quite as simple as Audi makes it out to be: the e-tron GT has not sold particularly well in China, which must have made Audi’s decision to stop importing much easier. Automobilwoche quotes figures from the consultancy JPW Asia, according to which only 188 e-tron GTs have been sold in China since the end of 2022.

As the brand’s top electric model, Audi had certainly hoped for more. Audi initially launched the RS e-tron GT on the Chinese market at the end of 2022 at prices starting at the equivalent of EUR 186,500, and the Audi e-tron GT has only been sold there since August 2023 at prices starting at EUR 127,000 – with limited success.

Now, less than a year and a half later, the series has come to an end – at least in China. Audi now wants to concentrate on the PPE models for the time being in the country that is so important for the brand – the Q6L e-tron has already been unveiled as the China long-wheelbase version, with the A6 e-tron to follow later. The Q5 e-tron based on the MEB is also still being sold. Hopes are now pinned on the China-specific electric cars that are being developed in cooperation with SAIC.

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