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Author | Chai Xuchen

Editor | Zhou Zhiyu

Audi's image as a luxurious official car was once deeply rooted in people's minds. For bosses and the middle class, owning an Audi was a status symbol. This made the classic executive sedan Audi A4 quickly become the pillar of the brand, and the "ABB" pattern that had led Mercedes-Benz and BMW for many years came from this.

However, a product reform has taken place at Audi headquarters, and the A4 gasoline car familiar to the middle class has become history, replaced by the fully upgraded A5 series. In addition, the Audi A6e-tron will be launched at the end of July, and the new generation gasoline version of the A6 will also be launched as the A7.

Behind this round of "big blood" of the model matrix is ​​Audi's ambition to gamble on electric vehicles. While making changes to its products, Audi also wants to take the opportunity to change the structure of the two joint ventures in the north and south.

A huge earthquake is rapidly building up beneath the ice, and Audi, unwilling to give up, is eager to regain his lost glory.

change

The last major upgrade of Audi A4 was 8 years ago. This time, A4 has been directly "promoted".

On the evening of July 26, Audi China announced on its official account that "the new Audi A5 family has been assembled," which is the "new identity" of the A4 generation of luxury cars.

Twenty-one years ago, as the luxury car brand that understands Chinese users best, FAW Audi introduced the Audi A4. Its localization marked the official opening of the domestic luxury B-class car market. Subsequently, the A4 was born in China. It became a "phenomenal" story, becoming a high-volume Audi car, and also supported the Audi brand's position in the Chinese luxury car market for many years.

Even at a time when electric cars are all the rage, the Audi A4 remains popular, with sales exceeding 10,000 units again in June this year.

However, the next A4 will become exclusive to electric cars.

Last year, the Audi brand conducted a product review and determined a new product naming rule: Audi's new cars in the even-numbered series (such as A4, A6, A8) will be combined with the English logo "e-tron" and become pure electric vehicles; the odd-numbered series (A3, A5, A7) will still be equipped with traditional internal combustion engines.

The new Audi A5 that debuted this time is the first shot fired after the naming system reform.

You know, A4, A6, A8, these well-known classic fuel vehicle IPs not only constitute the initial impression of many Chinese people on the Audi brand, but also are responsible for Audi's sales.

As market competition becomes increasingly fierce, Audi is betting on electric cars with all its assets, which shows its determination to transform. It also reflects that Audi's past transformation was not successful.

Last year, Audi delivered more than 178,000 pure electric vehicles in the global market, a year-on-year increase of 51%. In the first half of this year, FAW Audi's sales in the new energy field exceeded 10,000, a year-on-year increase of 203.8%.

But compared with brands like BMW and Mercedes-Benz, this achievement is far from enough. In the first half of this year, the overall new energy penetration rate in the automobile market once exceeded the 50% mark, and the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in luxury cars was 30.9%. If Audi wants to make new breakthroughs in the Chinese market, it must accelerate its efforts in the new energy track, and obtaining the classic IP is just the beginning.

Audi shows great sincerity, but it will not be too radical. It still uses both oil and electricity.

This time, Audi gave the "first launch rights" of its latest PPC fuel platform to the new A5, and promised that the new A5 family will be introduced to the Chinese market, including four versions: A5 Sedan, A5 Avant and their respective high-performance models.

With the adjustment of the names and sequences of these products, Audi is planning its layout with new ideas. With this change, Audi's two joint ventures in China will most likely face the reallocation of resources.

Breaking

At the Audi tasting event in Ismaning, Germany, Audi executives revealed that the new A5 model will be put into production simultaneously in the two joint ventures of SAIC Audi and FAW Audi, and that subsequent models may continue this "dual-line layout".

Originally, Volkswagen achieved full coverage and rapid sales growth in the Chinese market through its "dual-line layout" in the north and south. Audi also wants to replicate Volkswagen's success, reshape its brand influence in China, and increase its market share.

This means that the Audi A4 (new A5) may no longer be exclusive to FAW Audi, and the long-standing complementary situation between the southern and northern Audis will be broken. A person close to the Audi Group revealed that whether the new product series will be introduced to SAIC Audi will be further announced at this year's Guangzhou Auto Show.

Among the BBAs, Audi is the only one that has established dual joint ventures in China. However, the north and south Audi (FAW Audi and SAIC Audi) have always faced the problem of extremely unbalanced resource allocation.

As the joint venture company that has managed Audi for more than 30 years in China, FAW-Audi has the majority of resources for the introduction and development of the A-series models. Last year, FAW-Audi accounted for more than 95% of the 729,000 new cars delivered by Audi in the Chinese market. SAIC-Audi, which was established only three years ago, has obtained the production and sales rights of the A7L, but the original A7 model is still introduced by FAW-Audi.

This imbalance is difficult to maintain in the long run. SAIC Audi, which was once highly anticipated, has never become a new engine driving Audi's rapid development.

This is contrary to Audi's original intention of developing in China. In order to establish SAIC Audi, the German luxury car giant wasted several years in the equity dispute with FAW and the tug-of-war with dealers, and also missed the golden development period of new energy.

Therefore, Audi wants to take advantage of the adjustment of its product matrix to re-deal the cards between the two companies. After all, Audi's 50% stake in the joint venture with SAIC is much higher than the 19% in the joint venture with FAW. This profit sharing is also the driving force for Audi to transfer resources to SAIC Audi. SAIC Audi announced in May this year that it will adopt the ADP digital platform jointly developed by SAIC Group and Audi Group to introduce three new localized models.

Audi needs the two companies to join forces to make its brand bigger in China. Outside the door, old rivals Mercedes-Benz and BMW are accelerating their efforts. Their long-awaited pure electric platform will be launched in the next year; and independent brands such as Huawei, Xiaomi, Weilai, and Ideal are also eroding their own market share.

Ten years ago, Audi had a sales advantage of 100,000 units, surpassing BMW and Mercedes-Benz, and dominated the Chinese luxury car market. But in the past two years, it has been surpassed by its old rival by nearly 100,000 units.

Time waits for no one. Audi has one of the few opportunities to turn things around. It has to get out of the internal friction of the joint venture and join hands with partners to fully accelerate electrification. Audi must handle these issues properly and decisively.

In addition, in the face of the ever-changing market environment, Audi has also frequently changed its leadership in the past two years. In September last year, former CEO Duesmann resigned, and in January this year, Audi announced the replacement of its China president. Recently, it also replaced its global design director, which shows that it is eager for change.

Faced with the rapid development of the new energy era and direct competition from multiple Chinese brands, Audi is unwilling to be left out. It must work harder to rewrite its own destiny.