audi's song feiming: if we can succeed in china, we can succeed globally
2024-09-12
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"the speed of the project progress has exceeded our imagination." recently, fermín soneira, ceo of the audi-saic cooperation project, told the first financial reporter.
on may 20 this year, audi, saic group and saic volkswagen signed a cooperation agreement. the three parties further strengthened local cooperation. the new platform jointly developed by audi and saic group focusing on the chinese market - the "advanced digitized platform" was officially launched.
song feiming from audi serves as the ceo of the project, leading and promoting the implementation of the cooperation. song feiming has worked at volkswagen group for 25 years and was the global head of audi's ppe electric vehicle platform. in order to facilitate work and better understand the needs of the chinese market, song feiming moved his family to shanghai in march this year.
"the progress of product development has exceeded expectations. the first concept car will be introduced to you at the end of this year, and the first mass-produced model will be launched in the second half of next year. within one to one and a half years after the first car is launched, we will also have an suv model and a large sedan. our original plan was to launch three models one after another, but now they are almost moving forward in parallel," said song feiming.
among the multinational auto giants, volkswagen and audi are the most determined in advancing their electric vehicle strategies in china. this year alone, volkswagen group's investment in electric vehicles in china has reached 2.5 billion euros (about 19.658 billion yuan). in addition to increasing investment in batteries, software and other fields, volkswagen and xiaopeng, audi and saic have also reached cooperation relationships to launch electric vehicles that are more in line with the needs of the chinese market through cooperation with local chinese automakers.
according to the plan, based on the advanced digitized platform, audi's product launch cycle will be shortened by more than 30%. the first three models will cover the b-class and c-class car segments.
song feiming said that china is audi's largest single market in the world, and its strategic significance is self-evident to audi; secondly, the development speed and transformation of the chinese market in new energy vehicles and intelligent connected vehicles are the fastest and most resolute in the world, and audi very much hopes to seize the opportunities in the chinese market.
"the chinese market is very different from other markets in the world. for example, china's customer base is generally younger, with an average age of around 35 years old, while the average age of customer base in other markets is usually between 55 and 60 years old. china's younger customer base has more demands for smart driving and vehicle connectivity. we hope to further develop new energy vehicles and intelligent connected vehicles through cooperation projects with saic, respond to market demand more quickly, and enrich our product lineup," said song feiming.
the relay-style r&d collaboration is one of the reasons for the rapid progress of the audi saic project. the audi saic cooperation project has a team in shanghai and another in germany. the german team is responsible for the design of interior and exterior decoration, while the chinese team is responsible for human-computer interaction, intelligence and other aspects. r&d work such as demand definition and testing is also carried out in shanghai.
"the relay working mode of the sino-german team has greatly promoted the progress of the project. the support of the headquarters is also one of the important reasons to ensure the efficient operation of the project. if i encounter any technical problems, i will report directly to audi's global ceo godnow. godnow holds regular meetings every week to discuss projects. we also communicate frequently with saic management. everyone hopes that this project can be successful." song feiming said.
in the past six months, song feiming's deepest feeling is that "the speed of the chinese market is very fast", far exceeding that of europe and the united states. he believes that "china speed" can be replicated in many aspects, but it is difficult to replicate overall.
"it doesn't mean that fast is absolutely good. there are also bad things. in some places, it may be too fast." song feiming said that audi will use china's mature ecological system to continuously absorb new ideas and apply new solutions, and give full play to audi's car-making tradition and technological advantages to achieve technology and concept sharing at a higher dimension and ensure that the new car is an audi car with pure brand genes.
he said that the audi saic cooperation project will use the saic volkswagen anting plant for production and the existing saic audi sales network for sales channels, but will make distinctions in user experience.
the current competition in china's auto market is extremely fierce. foreign automakers have generally not done well in the electric vehicle business in china. honda and other automakers plan to launch new brands to carry the electric vehicle business. song feiming emphasized that no matter what challenges audi encounters, it will not break away from audi to create a new brand. in the past 115 years, audi has experienced many market fluctuations. resilience, aggressiveness, learning ability, and quick response are the core reasons why audi has survived market fluctuations.
an employee of a joint venture of volkswagen group in china told reporters that the german side believes that the "fire" of smart electric vehicles is currently only burning in the chinese market, but in time it will surely spread to other global markets, so volkswagen must be involved.
"only by adhering to the brand tone and positioning can we bravely move forward in any future storms and challenges. we often say that if we can succeed in china, we will definitely succeed globally," said song feiming.
(this article comes from china business network)
