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our reporter yin limei and zhang shuo reported from beijing

all existing audi products will undergo comprehensive upgrades in the next 24 months, and new generations of audi products will be launched one after another. on september 26, at the strategic media communication meeting in china, dr. johannes roscheck, president of audi china, revealed the above news.

china is audi's largest single market in the world. "china business news" reporter learned that in order to better adapt to the needs of users in the chinese market and maintain its competitiveness, audi will carry out new generations and upgrades based on its fuel models in 2025. at the same time, it will gradually launch more pure electric models in the chinese market starting from 2025.

fuel vehicles are the basic sales volume of bba (bmw, mercedes-benz, audi), but the market share of fuel vehicles in the chinese market is constantly being eroded by new energy vehicles. currently, in order to have a greater say, bba is accelerating the layout of new energy vehicle business at "china speed".

"for the chinese market, speed is definitely the key. at the same time, i think 'focus' is also very important. we must focus on china, products, and brands. china is developing rapidly and the market is changing. only by maintaining focus can we only by making clear judgments and strategic goals can we make the right decision at the right time." luo yinghan told reporters at the media communication meeting that for the chinese market, audi needs to be open to innovation and develop with excellent industry partners. cooperate.

will create the largest product layout in the history of the brand in china

in the era of fuel vehicles, bba, including audi, has a great say in the luxury car market and can be said to control pricing. however, with the rapid development of new energy vehicles, the luxury car market has changed. independent brands continue to "advance" through advantages such as higher cost performance and intelligence. in contrast, bba's new energy products are priced too high and have no advantage in product strength.

against this background, bba began to re-examine chinese car companies and the chinese car market, and made decisions to accelerate the pace of electrified products, adjust the pace of product research and development, and expand cooperation with local companies.

"from the overall market situation, the current growth momentum of new energy vehicles in the chinese market is very significant. we are about to create the largest product layout in the history of the brand for the chinese market, of which the new electrified product line will be the focus." luo yinghan told reporters , audi hopes to increase its share in the new energy vehicle market through new products.

according to the current strategic decision, in terms of creating the largest product layout in the history of the brand for the chinese market, starting from mid-2025, the locally produced audi q6l e-tron model series based on the ppe luxury pure electric platform will trumpet this product. the horn of planning. in addition, a new generation of local models based on the ppc (premium platform combustion) luxury fuel vehicle platform will also be unveiled, including the new audi a5 family.

it is reported that the audi a5 family will be jointly produced by audi's two major partners in china, china faw and saic, and will provide different body styles to meet the diverse needs of high-end customers.

luo yinghan said that audi's consideration for the a5 family to be put into production in two joint ventures is that the high-end mid-size car segment where the audi a5 model is located is very important to audi. audi hopes to meet the different needs of audi customers through a diversified product portfolio in this key market segment. the new audi a5 family is the first model series based on the ppc luxury fuel vehicle platform and is a new generation of audi's high-end fuel vehicles. this car series has different body styles and power configurations, which will maximize the use of market space and win the favor of consumers.

under the new product strategy, audi's products are constantly evolving. zeng huifang, executive vice president of sales and marketing at audi china, said that the new audi product lineup will be smarter, more connected and more progressive.

with the continuous expansion of its product series, audi auto ag will adjust the naming method of its globally released vehicles starting in 2024. the numbers in the model names will become a symbol to distinguish electric models from fuel models. from now on, even numbers will represent electric models, such as the audi q6 e-tron; odd numbers will represent fuel models, such as the audi a5. the audi q6 e-tron is the first model to adopt this new vehicle naming convention.

while implementing global vehicle naming rules, the audi a6l, one of the most successful models in china's high-end car market, will retain its existing name. this decision fully reflects audi's recognition of the success of this model and its emphasis on high-end chinese customers.

"the chinese market is the most competitive market in the world, and we have observed that chinese customers' market demands are changing very quickly. as an international car brand, audi needs to ensure that our products are very competitive in various markets around the world. and china as audi's largest single market in the world, we must maintain our competitiveness, so strategic adjustment is very important for us. in the face of the rapid development of the chinese market, we have also made timely and rapid adjustments to our strategy. preparation. you can see the adjustments we have made in response to market changes in the next new products.

“don’t just look at short-term benefits.”

on the market side, starting from 2023, china's auto market will be severely "involved", and bba will also be involved in the vortex of price wars, with new car sales prices severely inverted. since mid-july, bba has gradually withdrawn from the price war.

starting from april this year, luo yinghan will serve as president of audi china. he said that in the past 200 days, a large part of his work has been to understand the chinese market. in his view, a price war is unsustainable for any company. from a global corporate strategy perspective, audi must focus more on long-term high-quality development while maintaining market competitiveness. don’t just look at short-term benefits.

"judging from the data in the first nine months of this year, there is no large-scale growth in the entire luxury car market, and the development of this market is relatively stable. however, we are obviously concerned that the development and growth rate of the new energy vehicle market is very rapid and obviously, the market share of fuel vehicles is declining. even so, we see that the share of fuel vehicles in the luxury car market is still more than 60%. the price war puts great competitive pressure on all manufacturers. amid market fluctuations, we still maintain strong competitiveness, and we are very confident in this." zeng huifang said.

zeng huifang told reporters that judging from the market share ranking of luxury fuel vehicles, the top two models are both audi models, with the first place being the audi a6l and the second place being the audi q5l. "next year, we will carry out a new generation and upgrade based on the current fuel models. by then, audi's new generation of fuel models based on the ppc luxury fuel vehicle platform will have very strong market competitiveness."

in the new energy vehicle market, audi currently has two main models on sale: the audi q4 e-tron and the audi q5 e-tron. "starting from 2025, audi will successively launch more pure electric models in the chinese market. we believe that audi's share and sales performance in the pure electric market will also increase by then." zeng huifang told reporters that in the current dynamic environment, audi will we are very focused on product layout and are confident about future sales and market competition.

the competition in the "second half" of the new energy vehicle market revolves around intelligence. at present, intelligence has become the key point of competition for automobile products, and bba is relatively slow in this regard.

however, the outcome is currently undecided, and bba, which is actively adjusting its chinese market strategy, still has a chance to make a comeback.

"in the automotive industry, the chinese market is changing particularly fast. this has forced many international companies to re-examine their strategic planning and positioning in china." luo yinghan said that audi is currently working with its second partner in china, saic motor carry out active and efficient cooperation. in may this year, audi and saic motor continued to deepen their cooperation and signed a new cooperation agreement to jointly develop a new platform focused on the chinese market - the advanced digitized platform (advanced digitized platform), and build a new generation of high-end intelligent connected vehicles based on this platform.

it is reported that the first batch of models will be three pure electric models covering the b-class and c-class car segments, which can more efficiently explore the fast-growing and dynamic chinese electric vehicle market. audi will meet chinese consumers' demands for intuitive and connected digital experiences at "china speed". the first model based on this platform will be launched in 2025, significantly shortening the product launch cycle by more than 30%.

"now we are very concerned about the human-vehicle interaction. although this is very important to global customers, because of the differences in specific needs of different markets, we need to carry out innovative research and development locally. we can use the research and development in china the system and architecture allow these specific differentiated needs to be met," luo yinghan said. at the same time, audi will adhere to an open and innovative attitude, cooperate with china's top partners, and apply technology to products in audi's way. "we are fully aware of the needs of chinese users in terms of intelligence and have chosen to cooperate with huawei to introduce its advanced intelligent driving assistance systems into vehicles."

(editor: zhang shuo review: tong haihua proofreader: yan yuxia)