Audi and SAIC finalize cooperation, launch first China-specific model next year, expected to lead BMW and Mercedes-Benz

If one word is used to describe the current Chinese new energy vehicle industry, the most appropriate one may be "dominant by one company." So far, China's new energy vehicle sales have accounted for 60% of the global market share, bringing together a group of the world's most powerful upstream and downstream companies in the new energy industry.

What is the most direct way for car manufacturers in other parts of the world to develop new energy? Find Chinese manufacturers to cooperate, just like Chinese manufacturers begged Volkswagen and Toyota to form joint ventures.

On May 20, SAIC and Audi officially signed a cooperation agreement. The two parties will jointly develop a new intelligent digital platform for the Chinese market and create a new generation of high-end intelligent connected vehicles.

This cooperation can be understood as follows: Audi has the appeal of a luxury brand, vehicle development and engineering technology capabilities, while SAIC has the intelligent core technology and related new energy vehicle development experience that Audi urgently needs. In theory, the cooperation between the two parties is a strong alliance with complementary advantages.

Audi is one of the top three luxury brands in Germany. Why did it want to cooperate with the company? The reason is simple: its own new energy is a little slow.

From an objective point of view, Audi's moves in the field of new energy are not small. So far, it has formed a relatively large e-tron electric vehicle family that covers all market segments.

But the problem is that the sales of these new energy models are far from expectations. In April 2024, Audi's best performing new energy model was the Audi Q4 e-tron, with monthly sales of only 1,523 units, while the monthly sales of other new energy models hovered below 500 units.

Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW have been struggling in the new energy field for so many years, and have proved with their actual actions that they are really not good in the new energy field. However, they do not want to give up, and the fastest way to achieve results is to cooperate with Chinese manufacturers.

Compared with FAW Audi, SAIC Audi was established very recently, has a small number of models and poor performance, and has relatively little historical baggage and internal resistance, so Audi is thinking of giving it a try.

This can also be seen from the cooperation plan of both parties. SAIC and Audi plan to build a new intelligent digital platform, which does not conflict with Audi's global PPE platform and is exclusively for the Chinese market. To put it bluntly, this is another "China-exclusive" platform, the difference is that this time the technology leader has become a domestic manufacturer like SAIC.

Audi believes that the poor development of its new energy vehicles is mainly due to the lack of some core technologies. SAIC has a full set of new energy core technologies, and cooperation with SAIC can make up for this shortcoming and enter the mainstream market of new energy vehicles in China. If a breakthrough is made in this way, it may also feed back to Audi's global new energy business.

In addition to developing a new platform for the Chinese market, Audi has another plan, which is to take advantage of the powerful supply chain and strong consumer demand in the domestic Chinese market. This is the strength of the Chinese market, and Audi's layout can be regarded as being close to the water and getting the moon first.

According to official news released by SAIC and Audi, the first batch of models jointly developed by the two parties will be three pure electric models, covering the B-class and C-class car markets. The first model will be launched in 2025, and the product launch cycle will be shortened by 30% compared with the previous one. The improvement brought to Audi by the Chinese new energy market is obvious.

Of course, these advantages are only theoretical. Forming a joint venture with Chinese manufacturers and obtaining technical support is indeed one way, but this road may not be as easy as imagined.

First of all, is it really just because of intelligence that new energy vehicles from luxury brands such as Audi are not selling well? Obviously not, they are in a weak position in core technical links such as batteries, motors, and electronic controls. If Audi wants to quickly improve its technical strength, it needs to hand over these core technical links to SAIC, but will Audi's German headquarters agree?

In fact, although Audi attaches great importance to the Chinese market, it is not a Chinese brand after all, and needs to consider the interests of all parties around the world when transforming to new energy. SAIC Volkswagen General Manager Jia Jianxu directly stated that after the cooperation between the two parties, the development work will change from the original "series" to "parallel".

The parallel connection proves that SAIC's position in the cooperation has improved, but it is still far from being dominant. In addition, SAIC's own new energy business has not developed smoothly, and the performance of its two sub-brands Zhiji and Feifan has not met expectations. In the field of core technology, SAIC has its own set of things, but compared with manufacturers such as BYD, it is not yet leading. The cooperation between SAIC and Audi is more like a group warming up, rather than a strong alliance.

But no matter what, the willingness to cooperate with SAIC proves Audi's sincerity. Audi's brand influence is still there. If it can come up with one or two popular models in the short term, then its new energy transformation path may be successful. Although it will certainly not catch up with Geely and BYD, it can at least be ahead of BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.