Audi strengthens SAIC ties to grow Chinese sales

AUDI is reportedly set to strengthen its partnership with Chinese state-owned manufacturer SAIC as it works to ensure future models launched under the co-owned brand will appeal to new and younger buyers in the market.

Speaking with Automotive News Europe this week, the German manufacturer said the AUDI all-electric brand (spelt with A-U-D-I lettering and without the four-ringed logo), launched in 2024, will evolve to create a new innovation and technology centre in Shanghai, helping the sub-brand better tailor vehicles to meet the needs of Chinese buyers.

The China-only AUDI sub-brand launched its E5 Sportback at Shanghai’s Auto China 2025 exhibition and will debut a second model, the E7X (SUV), at next week’s Audi China 2026 in Beijing.

The move comes as German automotive manufacturers seek to deepen their production and development footprint in China in response to slowing sales and fierce competition with domestic brands.

It’s a plan that already appears to be proving worthwhile with sales of close to 10,000 units of the E5 Sportback registered so far.

The Audi E5 Sportback – which won China’s coveted Car of the Year Award in January – has composed the majority of Audi’s first-quarter sales in China this year, attracting new and younger buyers to a once-struggling European brand within the world’s largest car market.

with Automotive News Europe