Audi is developing a new brand for China that confusingly bears the same name, but which does without the trademark four-ring logo.
Three future electric vehicles under this brand have been previewed by the E concept, a sleek electric wagon which wears an illuminated AUDI wordmark front and back.
The rollout of vehicles from AUDI (no, not that Audi, the other one) will commence from mid-2025, with the first three to be in the medium and large segments.
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The new brand, based in and tailored for China, is being launched in cooperation with MG and LDV’s parent company SAIC Motor. By doing so, Audi says it can reduce time to market by more than 30 per cent.
Its head is Fermin Soneira, a 10-year Audi veteran (and 25-year Volkswagen Group stalwart) who most recently served as the electric vehicle (EV) boss at the luxury brand.
Audi says it brings engineering and vehicle development expertise plus “know-how in premium products and design”, while SAIC Motor brings local market knowledge, as well as “fast innovations [and a ] well-established technology ecosystem”.
The E concept was developed “by experts from both Germany and China” from both Audi and SAIC, and is underpinned by what’s called the Advanced Digitized Platform.
It measures 4870mm long, 1990mm wide and 1460mm tall on a 2950mm wheelbase. That makes it 58mm shorter but 67mm wider than the new A6 Avant e-tron on a 2mm longer wheelbase.
The E concept features a dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrain with 570kW of power and 800Nm of torque, good for a 0-100km/h time of 3.6 seconds.
It’s equipped with a 100kWh battery and an 800V architecture, with range of 700km on the CLTC cycle. Audi says a 10-minute fast charge can add more than 370km of range.
There’s a similar loop design element front and rear, and Audi says many of the designers who worked on the concept have been at the Beijing Design Studio for years and “have developed a deep understanding of traditional aesthetic codes in China as well as of Chinese customers’ wishes”.
Inside, there’s a curved pillar-to-pillar 4K touch display that incorporates the digital exterior mirrors.
It runs on Audi OS, with crucial information positioned on the top-level menu, as well as a “rich entertainment and app ecosystem”, an intelligent assistant that “conveys emotional feedback”, and facial recognition.
The doors feature illuminated wood and microfibre in a “three-dimensional lamella design”, which Audi says is inspired by modern architecture.
As to why Audi would launch another brand with the same name, it explains the use of a wordmark instead of the four-ring logo “signals both the connection to and differentiation from the sister brand”.
It notes Chinese premium customers “are different from their international counterparts and have different expectations”, being younger and more tech-savvy.
Audi also says they expect leading connectivity, automated driving, and “an exciting, unmistakable experience in an interior that is both familiar and surprising”.
“Our cooperation reflects the spirit of ‘the best of both worlds’ and has been set up to jointly organise development, purchasing, production, and sales,” said Mr Soneira.
“With both parties contributing their core strengths, I firmly believe Audi will continue to shape the future of premium electric mobility by integrating the innovation strength of the market.”
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