Audi & SAIC to present their first jointly developed vehicle in November
There were already rumours about the cooperation between Audi and SAIC last year, and the partnership agreement was signed in May 2024. The aim of the collaboration is to launch several electric vehicles on the market in China and to develop an ‘Advanced Digitised Platform’. The new vehicles are expected to complement Audi’s existing range of electric cars: Audi currently offers the MEB models Q4 e-tron and Q5 e-tron in China. The latter has nothing in common with the combustion model (built in Mexico), but is the Audi offshoot of the VW ID.6 X, an electric SUV for the Chinese market.
According to a LinkedIn post by Fermín Soneira, the first three models from the partnership will cover the B and C segments. In other words, they will be small and compact cars that are likely to be between the Audi A4 and A6 in terms of size.
However, it remains unclear exactly what type of vehicle will be presented in November. Fermín Soneira only announced that this first model will go on sale in the second half of 2025. The vehicle is likely to be produced by SAIC-Volkswagen Anting in Shanghai.
According to Soneira, Audi-SAIC wants to focus its product strategy on the younger generation and is also focussing on suitable design and smart services.in terms of design and intelligence, especially for high-end customer groups who are ready to accept new technologies and new concepts. Technology from the Chinese start-up Momenta is to be used as a solution for intelligent driving solutions. Audi-SAIC is relying on CATL for the batteries. At the same time, according to the report by Car News China, Soneira denied that the new models will merely be a revision of the vehicles from IM Motors (Intelligence in Motion). IM Motors is an electric vehicle joint venture between SAIC, Alibaba and ZhangJiang Hi-Tech.
According to an earlier Reuters report, Audi could shorten the time to market launch by over 30 per cent thanks to the SAIC cooperation. The Ingolstadt-based company needs the technical support of the Chinese company because the new Group platform SSP is likely to be delayed by several years. It is not yet known whether the new models will adopt Audi’s four-ring logo. There have recently been rumours that the new models will use the Audi lettering instead of the four-ring logo.
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