Audi Dealer Association to be established, SAIC-Audi joint venture final negotiations to start

As March approaches, the final negotiations on the FAW Audi dealer incident are also entering the countdown. On February 14, the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) announced that at the invitation of Joachim Wedler, general manager of Audi (China) Enterprise Management Co., Ltd., Shen Jinjun, president of the CADA, held talks with him on the 13th. It was also revealed that on February 16, the CADA Audi Dealer Association will be established in Sanya.

The news said that the two sides exchanged views on the establishment of the Audi Dealer Association of CADA and other issues closely related to the current situation of FAW Audi dealers. Regarding the upcoming Audi Dealer Association, Wei Yongxin said: "Audi AG congratulates the formal establishment of the Audi Dealer Association of China Automobile Dealers Association. We look forward to working closely with the association and its member companies for mutual benefit and win-win results, and jointly creating a bright future for the Audi brand in China."

According to news from dealers, in March, when Audi resumed channel negotiations with SAIC, Audi dealer Jianghe Audi sat down at the negotiation table again for the final round of negotiations. Industry analysts pointed out that as part of the intensive preparations, the newly established Audi Dealer Association may become the main interlocutor in the March negotiations with Audi. Behind this, the identity and influence of the Automobile Circulation Association will become an important "backer" for dealers, which is also the main reason why Wei Yongxin visited Shen Jinjun in advance before the negotiations began.

In the past few years, it has become a common practice for dealers of major automobile brands to negotiate with vehicle manufacturers in the form of dealer associations to gain more benefits. Dealers of mainstream brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Porsche all relied on the power of the brand dealer associations under the Automobile Circulation Association to gain more benefits for dealers during the storm of dealers collectively "denunciation" of manufacturers at the end of 2014.

As an early brand dealer association, the Porsche Dealer Association was established in 2014 and played an important role in the thrilling tug-of-war between Porsche dealers and Porsche manufacturers in early 2015, and eventually forced Porsche to replace its top leader in China. Mercedes-Benz China took the initiative to promote the establishment of the Mercedes-Benz Dealer Association to improve the tense manufacturer relationship and strengthen the dialogue mechanism, which also became the main reason for its rapid counterattack in China.

In May 2016, the BMW Dealer Association (CADA) was formally established, becoming the fourth largest brand dealer association after the Mercedes-Benz Dealer Association, the Imported Volkswagen Dealer Association, and the Porsche Dealer Association. The biggest driving force behind the establishment of this association was the subsidy war between BMW dealers and manufacturers from the end of 2014 to the beginning of 2015, when BMW dealers refused to take delivery of goods. In the end, BMW dealers reached an agreement with BMW China in the form of an association and received an additional subsidy of 4 billion yuan.

Audi obviously does not want the relationship with dealers to reach a point where it cannot be resolved. In an interview with the media earlier this year, Volkswagen Group (China) President and CEO Heizmann stressed that resolving the dealer incident and ensuring the dealer's sustainable profitability is one of the important prerequisites for the SAIC Audi project to continue to advance. He also stressed that there is no possibility of reaching the point where the Porsche dealer incident occurred.

Shen Jinjun said that CADA Audi Dealer Association is committed to building a communication platform for manufacturers and dealers, hoping to promote harmonious and win-win cooperation between manufacturers through the work of the association. The Automobile Circulation Association said that Wei Yongxin will participate in the relevant activities of the establishment of CADA Audi Dealer Association on February 16 as a manufacturer representative.

The unresolved FAW-Audi dealer incident has become a key factor affecting Audi's new layout in China. A reporter learned from SAIC that in order to ensure the smooth conclusion of the final negotiations in March, the current situation within SAIC is to push forward the project internally and try to downplay the relevant information of the joint venture project to the outside world, especially to the media.

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.