Audi creates a new brand in China
- Audi was one of the first premium carmakers to export its cars to China and then to produce them locally, from the beginning of the 1990s. The German brand with the four rings was helped in this by its owner Volkswagen, which had also established itself in China in the early 1990s. Audi quickly became the most widespread premium brand in China and even gained entry into the country's senior administrations and other ministries.
- Audi's production volume grew steadily until 2014, reaching 645,000 vehicles assembled that year. Increasingly competing with BMW and Mercedes, Audi began to see its production fluctuates between 2015 and 2023, from 625,000 to 725,000 units per year. In 2024, its production volume will be closer to 600,000 units (according to Inovev estimates), the lowest figure recorded since2014.
- To revive its sales on the Chinese market, Audi has chosen to create a new battery electric brand called AUDI (in capital letters) freed from its four rings and with a car exterior design totally different from current Audis. Presented as a world premiere at the Guangzhou Motor Show in November 2024, the first AUDI E concept comes under the form of a 4.87 m long profiled SUV that places the vehicle in the E segment.
- The model, designed in collaboration with the Chinese carmaker SAIC (owner of the MG, Roewe, Maxus brands), is equipped with two electric motors with a total power of 570 kW and a 100 kWh battery allowing a range of 700 km according to the CLTC cycle. This model announces a whole range of new battery electric vehicles from the new AUDI brand.