The first electric car developed jointly by Audi and SAIC will enter the Chinese market in 2025 to improve a poor Audi NEV sales performance in the Middle Kingdom. This BEV will be unveiled in November this year.
SAIC is the biggest state-owned Chinese automaker. Itโs well known worldwide as the owner of the ex-British MG brand. However, the main source of SAICโs income is cooperation with overseas automakers. SAIC currently has joint ventures with Volkswagen and GM. The Chinese company also runs its own electric brands: Rising Auto and IM Motors.
Soon, the new Audi-branded EV developed jointly with SAIC will enter the market. Interestingly, Audi chose SAIC as a partner to create a new BEV, but not its Chinese assembly ally FAW Group. Anyway, this German brand is in desperate need of help as the demand for its NEVs is low in China. For clarity, Audi sold about 31,000 cars in China last year. It lacks a share in the rapidly growing segment.
More about an electric car from Audi and SAIC
The first information about the cooperation between Audi and SAIC appeared in 2023. According to early rumors, Audi decided to use the iO Origin platform for their new EVs. It is an architecture from the IM Motors brand, which SAIC and Alibaba run jointly.
In May 2024, Audi officially confirmed this partnership. However, the German automaker said its new models will be built on the Advanced Digitized Platform (ADP). So, new Audi-branded EVs wonโt use the iO Origin architecture. However, this chassis was developed under the lead of a Chinese team. According to Audi, ADP shortened the launch time of new electric cars by more than 30%. Previously, the German car maker suffered from the long cycle of launching cars on their own PPE platform.
As Deutsche Welle China reported, the first car from Audi and SAIC is a mid-size EV. It will be officially revealed in November. This car will first launch in China in 2025. The source mentioned that the new BEV wonโt use traditional Audiโs four-ring logo. This way, it will be easy to distinguish BEVs developed in China from cars originated from Germany.
Audi and SAIC spent 18 months on the development process of their very first EV. Later, Audi hopes to speed up the partnership to bring more products to the market. Initially, two companies plan to launch three cars in B and C classes. By 2030, Audi-SAIC electric cars will reportedly launch nine vehicles. Of course, it depends on the sales volume of the first three cars.
Audiโs cooperation project with SAIC for the BEV development is a sensible decision. The demand for electric vehicles falls in Europe. However, it still grows in China. It would be a great burden if Audi had decided to develop both electric cars and petrol-powered vehicles totally on its own. Having SAIC as a partner will help the German automaker distribute resources. So, it will keep its market share high in petrol head regions, and gain momentum in NEV-friendly China.
