Audi splits China: Four rings stay with FAW, letter brand "AUDI" goes to SAIC
Audi is reorganizing its partnerships in China. FAW-Audi takes the four-ring models, while SAIC-Audi will handle only the new electric brand AUDI without the rings.
Archive image · Photo: JustAnotherCarDesigner / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (cropped and resized)
Audi is putting its China business under the motto "two brands, two partners." FAW-Audi, a joint venture founded in 1988, will focus on the four-ring brand, with combustion and new-energy vehicles including the long-wheelbase A6L e-tron and Q6L e-tron. SAIC-Audi, founded in 2021, will be responsible only for the ring-less AUDI brand launched in 2025, which includes the electric E5 Sportback and E7X, electrive and CnEVPost reported.
SAIC-Audi may continue selling four-ring models until the end of 2027, with aftersales service continuing beyond that. Four new AUDI models are planned on the ADP 2.0 platform, with the first due to debut in 2028, according to CnEVPost. Implementing the two-brand strategy supports the local partners, outgoing Audi China President Johannes Roscheck said, according to electrive.
Roscheck will be succeeded on Nov. 1 by Jeff Zhang, a former manager at Chinese automaker Chery.