A second exclusive brand for China? This European manufacturer has just launched it by surprise

In recent decades, and under the unstoppable Chinese economic growth, there emerged the trend that the automobile groups of this country took over well-known brands in Europe to sell their productswhen not vehicles developed exclusively for the European market.

This was the case of Smart, acquired 50% in 2019 by the Geely Group or, above all, the case of MG: a British brand founded in 1924 that, since 2007, has been owned by the Chinese group SAIC and that returned to Europe – and Spain – in 2021.

Well, now, a large European manufacturer has just ended that trend and in the most explicit way. This brand, which is included among the constructors premium best known in Europe just unveiled a second brand that will develop andn collaboration with the SAIC Group and which will be used exclusively for the Chinese market.

AUDI, not Audi

Yes, we are talking about the manufacturer originally from Ingolstadt and which is part of the Volkswagen Group: Audi. And when it comes to naming his second brand, it has not been excessively original either. This new brand exclusive for the Chinese market sIt is called AUDI -with the letters in capital letters- and, yes, dispense from the traditional symbol of the German manufacturer: the four rings.

As Audi explains in a statement, the new brand “signals both the connection and the differentiation with its sister brand.” This signature will be based in China, will exclusively manufacture electric cars and in collaboration with the SAIC Group, it will opt for the search for a younger client.

Gernot Dullner, Audi’s CEO, already indicates this: “With the launch of this new brand of electric and intelligent models in China, Audi opens new paths to access new customer segments more interested in technology.”

The arrival of AUDI is not without logic. In 1988, Audi was the first manufacturer premium to reach the Chinese market and, last year, the brand with the four rings sold almost as many cars in China alone -729,042 units- as in all of Europe, where it registered 747,519 vehicles.

A Spanish person in charge for this project

AUDI is the result of a development team that is led by the Asturian – born in Gijón in 1972 – Fermín Soneirawho has been working for the Volkswagen Group for more than 25 years and, in his last stage, was responsible for Audi’s electrical products.

A development group that has been working for months and that has combined the strengths of Audi and SAIC to create the so-called Advanced Digitalized Platform. A platform that Dullner describes as “the basis of a new generation of next-generation connected and intelligent vehicles for China.”

And a first electric prototype with 765 HP and all-wheel drive

Precisely on this basis, which will result in the first vehicles of the new brand – which will be located in the urban and compact segments and which will go on sale in 2025 -, it has materialized the company’s first prototype: the AUDI E.

With 4.87 meters longhe AUDI E It shows, as Audi acknowledges, “a very differentiated exterior design language.” And, inside, “a spacious, elegant and digitalized cabin”, as well as “a fully connected driving experience”.

In the mechanical aspect, this prototype presents two electric motors offering 570 kW/765 HP of power all-wheel drive and quattro all-wheel drive. With this capacity, the AUDI E accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.6 seconds.

Furthermore, it has a 100 kWh capacity batterywhich allows a autonomy of 700 km -approved under the Chinese CLTC cycle-. Thanks to the 800 volt architecture, this AUDI E can be recharged super quickly, so that, connected to a high-power station, it can recover more than 370 km of autonomy in just 10 minutes.

Oriented towards Chinese tastes

Audi recognizes thatThe AUDI E has been designed “tailored to Chinese tastes”. Therefore, to a minimalist exterior with rounded wheel arches and striking lighting graphics both on the front and the rear; It unites an interior created with “traditional aesthetic codes in China.”

Thus, the cabin of the AUDI E is based on very clean lines and the presence of a huge 4k touch screen that runs the entire line under the windshield and that, for example, offers the vision of the exterior cameras placed as rear-view mirrors.

Its interior combines materials such as microfiber and laminated wood with latest technology, such as a facial recognition system, vocal commands or an interface designed to integrate perfectly with your passengers’ smartphones.