Author | Chai Xuchen Editor | Zhou Zhiyu Faced with the trend of new energy electrification and the loss of market share under price wars, joint venture car companies have been "Renovating" their famous cars in an attempt to mount a strong counterattack. On May 30, SAIC Volkswagen's Touareg L Pro was launched. The car, which is said to be "the smartest gasoline car", had been preheated for nearly two months prior to its launch. The launch invited representatives from DJI Car and Tencent Travel, as well as the person in charge of iFLYTEK, all of whom attended in person to demonstrate the strength of its smart driving and smart cabin. As a "meritorious model" of SAIC Volkswagen, Touareg has been synonymous with Volkswagen SUVs for the past 15 years and was once the best-selling joint venture SUV. With a monthly sales volume of nearly 20,000 units for a long time, it occupies a 20% share of SAIC Volkswagen. SAIC Volkswagen hopes that the new Touareg will become a disruptor in the current market, from gasoline car intelligence to a stable price system with value-added buyback policy. In the view of Yu Jingmin, Vice President of Sales and Marketing of SAIC Volkswagen, new energy vehicles still have range anxiety and gasoline cars have an advantage that needs no explanation, but the biggest difference between them and electric vehicles lies mainly in their appearance and intelligence. After fulfilling the core needs of contemporary consumers, this once "famous car" seems to be reborn. Thus, from DJI's advanced intelligent driving solution to iFLYTEK's smart cabin voice assistant, this 200,000 yuan-level SUV brings together the strengths of various parties, aiming to break through the industry's perception that gasoline cars are less intelligent than electric vehicles. The launch of the new Touareg marks the beginning of SAIC Volkswagen's counterattack. In a post-event interview, Yu Jingmin mentioned several times that due to external cooperation and the accumulation of joint venture partners, SAIC Volkswagen's technology center is actually ahead of many independent brands, but unfortunately the rhythm is too slow. The company will now accelerate its efforts to catch up and even surpass in electric, hybrid or gasoline cars. Yu Jingmin revealed to Wall Street News that the new Touareg is the first gasoline car product in the Pro series, which is focused on intelligence, and that the Passat and Touareg Pro versions will also be introduced within the year. While polishing its technology, it is also preparing for the intelligence of its A-class cars. A counteroffensive war ignited by a gasoline fueled chariot seems to be brewing rapidly. But to be fair, SAIC Volkswagen's intelligence still lags far behind new forces such as Huawei, Xiaopeng, and Ideal. At the same time, in the current context where BBA is crazy about price cuts and the BMW electric car at over 180,000 yuan is setting a new industry low price, the 236,800 yuan Touareg L Pro seems somewhat out of step and the counterattack is difficult to achieve. In response to the challenge, SAIC Volkswagen has given a three-year 20% discount buyback plan. Users no longer need to worry about the fluctuation of vehicle purchase costs and second-hand car prices. SAIC Volkswagen locks in the difference between the purchase and final selling prices of users' vehicles, in a move to crack the price war. This also buys precious time for SAIC Volkswagen to speed up product and intelligence catch-up. This is the backdrop of the efforts to win back the former "king" of the Chinese car market.

In today's weather is good. Today's weather is good.

In the memory of a generation, the four-ring logo is an exclusive label of Audi. However, for the Chinese market, Audi has used the long-unused "AUDI" emblem and entrusted it along with the determination for change to a "pure electric vanguard."

On the evening of November 7, the first model of the Audi-SAIC cooperation project was unveiled. The revolution of this car is almost from the inside out, with a pale purple metal exterior covering a futuristic body, and the interior cabin design also aligns with the new forces. Departing from the stable "German taste" and bidding farewell to the classic "four rings," Audi and SAIC have created a "new species" for the Chinese market.

This is a bold attempt that Audi has never made in its 36 years of entering China. According to its internal planning, this new luxury electric brand AUDI will break out of the traditional competition circle of BBA and benchmark the new forces by "using magic to defeat magic."

This high-end electric vehicle project that Audi China collaborated on with SAIC Group six months ago quickly became Audi's "number one project."

Speed is of the essence. From the cooperation agreement signed by both parties on May 20 to the debut of the first car, the AUDI E concept, on November 7, it seems that the development cycle of the new product has been compressed to the extreme, even faster than the zeekrs. The emergence of the AUDI brand has brought quite a shock to the market.

Song Feiming, the CEO of the Audi-SAIC project, revealed that the Chinese and German teams alternately work under the stage. After the German side proposes solutions and suggestions during German working hours, the Chinese side discusses and provides feedback during Chinese working hours. This relay allows the project to advance around the clock. SAIC Audi also stated that the unprecedented level of cooperation from the German side significantly shortened the project's timeline.

More importantly, the AUDI project is personally supervised by Audi China, with decisions reported directly to the Audi group's board of directors, a privilege that both the northern and southern Audis have never enjoyed. Song Feiming stated that he reports the project progress to the group CEO, Gao Deno, almost every day, holds decision-making meetings at least twice a week, and even flies Gao Deno to Shanghai for quick decision making on certain issues.

According to sources close to Audi, before the collaboration, Audi's core demand to SAIC was speed. Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume bluntly stated, "The Chinese market is a gym, if you can't keep up with the intensity, you will be left behind." Jia Jianxu, General Manager of SAIC Volkswagen, stated that Audi's requirements can only be met in China.

The highly accelerated R&D in the industry is just one card Audi is playing to catch up with new forces. On the other hand, facing the increasingly intelligent consumer demands, SAIC has filled the gap for them.

Zu Sijie, Chief Engineer of SAIC, revealed that Zero Bundle Technology has contributed the latest electronic and electrical architecture, central computing platform, intelligent cloud platform, and digital products to AUDI E; in terms of intelligent driving, it adopts the Momenta solution from a source similar to its own intelligence. With the integration of existing mature resources, AUDI E is able to quickly catch up with the product strength of the "latecomers".

It is worth mentioning that although the intelligence "soul" is injected by SAIC, it does not mean abandoning the Audi DNA. The exterior of the new car and Audi's proud driving control tuning are all handled by the German team.

In the past, like most European brands, Audi completed the development of platforms and models at its headquarters in Germany, then made localized adjustments based on the Chinese market before production. However, with the collaboration starting with the AUDI brand, the model has shifted to both parties jointly developing a new car directly based on the Chinese market.

This means that Audi has put aside its former arrogance, launched a huge transformation in development mode for the Chinese market, initiated a strong alliance through "splicing long boards", and clearly aimed to attack the comfort zone of new forces.

An insider close to the project pointed out that as a hunting model, the AUDI E intends to benchmark against Nio ET5T, Zeekr 001 and other models, and after integrating into SAIC's supply chain system with LIZHI, Momenta, the car may offer a competitive price.

"In terms of price positioning, our products are not only benchmarking against BBA, but also studying Nio, Li Auto, etc." Song Feiming bluntly said, "We want to break into the niche market, attracting young users pursuing innovation to join the Audi family."

With groundbreaking design, enhanced intelligence, dramatically compressed R&D cycles, and access to local supply chains... in the eyes of Gaetan Thiesse, the AUDI E is an important step for Audi to return to its peak in China. The fate of the Audi family is also entrusted to this vanguard.

In the largest single market of China, Audi is currently under tremendous pressure. In the first half of the year, Audi Group's revenue in China shrank by 26% year-on-year to 0.338 billion euros, with sales and pricing systems also under continued pressure; compared to Mercedes-Benz and BMW, its electrified product line has a significant number of gaps, with only three pure electric cars currently selling an average total of two thousand units per month.

Objectively speaking, in recent years, influenced by various factors, Audi has missed the golden development period of new energy. Change is imminent.
However, transformation for a big elephant is not easy, Audi needs a vanguard force to lead and explore. The emergence of the AUDI brand comes at the right time.

"Our goal is very clear, to keep up with the pace of the Chinese market first, at this stage we need to focus, Audi hopes these products will open up the situation in the Chinese market first." Song Feiming emphasized that AUDI is not a pilot project, but a long-term project that will have a profound impact for decades to come.

The AUDI E showcased this time is just the appetizer, as Audi plans to replicate a series of advantages such as defining new product features, intelligence, exterior design, functional adjustments, and local new energy supply chain to more models.

In response, the ADP intelligent digital platform tailored to the new energy and intelligence needs of Chinese consumers has become a trump card jointly brewed by SAIC and Audi. Gan Tengnord stated that from 2025 to 2027, the AUDI brand will launch a pure electric vehicle model based on the new platform every year, covering medium to large segment markets.

36 years ago, by boldly employing a localization strategy, Audi took the initiative in the Chinese market and rose to the top position among German luxury cars. Now, facing the crucial second half of their destiny, Audi has adopted a more decisive attitude and sounded the charge of a counterattack.

The success or failure of this new force AUDI is crucial for SAIC Audi and both shareholders.

Freed from the constraints of the four rings, the lightly armed AUDI can aggressively explore breakthrough directions. This is one of the few opportunities for Audi to prove itself in the 'new world'. For the joint venture company, it is also a key factor in enhancing SAIC Volkswagen's profit capabilities, and even in leading ZEEKR's skyrocketing advancement in cooperation, solidifying SAIC Motor Corporation's upward brand offensive.

Now, as the chill of the market blows fiercely towards joint venture brands, amid dramatic changes, both Audi and SAIC have shown astonishing courage. Unwilling to decline, they are determined to forge a path and win this battle to defend market share.