Audi debuted a brand new China-only luxurious model this week, revealing an idea automobile as a part of the announcement. The brand new model’s title? AUDI. The capital letters are essential to differentiate it from Audi. How are you aware the automobile is an AUDI as an alternative of an Audi? It says AUDI on the entrance finish rather than the Audi 4 rings. The idea automobile known as the AUDI E Idea, and whereas the AUDI doesn’t actually seem like an Audi total, the AUDI does have some Audi design cues that tie it into Audi whereas preserving it distinctly AUDI.
A enjoyable truth I didn’t know is that Audi was the primary “premium automobile model” to enter the Chinese language market again in 1988, and Audi’s expertise available in the market is why it determined to create AUDI, which is being developed as a three way partnership with Shanghai-based SAIC Motor. Three manufacturing fashions might be coming subsequent yr on a brand new Superior Digitized Platform structure that was labored on by SAIC and Audi groups in Germany and China. Right here’s what Audi needed to say concerning the firm within the AUDI press launch:
AUDI is formed 100-percent by the Audi DNA and embodies “Vorsprung durch Technik” within the period of electrical clever linked automobiles. Audi CEO Gernot Döllner: “The automotive business is present process the most important transformation in its historical past. With our partnerships in China, we’re enjoying a decisive position on this transformation.” On the identical time, Chinese language premium prospects are completely different from their worldwide counterparts and have completely different expectations: they’re youthful than in the remainder of the world. They’re extra tech-savvy. They count on main connectivity in addition to automated driving and, extra importantly, an thrilling, unmistakable expertise in an inside that’s each acquainted and shocking.
The wants and needs of those premium buyer teams are the benchmark and specification sheet for the joint improvement group from Audi and SAIC. This group has been arrange with Fermín Soneira from Audi because the CEO.
Soneira, previously the long-standing Head of Product Line for Electrical Fashions at Audi, steers the partnership with 25 years of in depth expertise inside the Volkswagen Group. “Our cooperation displays the spirit of ‘the most effective of each worlds’ and has been set as much as collectively manage improvement, buying, manufacturing, and gross sales,” stated Fermín Soneira. “With each events contributing their core strengths, I firmly imagine Audi will proceed to form the way forward for premium electrical mobility by integrating the innovation energy of the market.”
The brand new joint program presents the most effective of two worlds in automotive improvement. It combines the strengths of Audi with SAIC’s innovation velocity. Audi brings know-how in premium merchandise and design, total car improvement, and engineering to the desk. SAIC presents quick improvements, a well-established expertise ecosystem, and deep perception into the native market’s calls for. The results of this mix: the Superior Digitized Platform.
Audi CEO Gernot Döllner stresses: “The joint platform would be the foundation for a brand new era of state-of-the-art clever linked automobiles unique to China. The upcoming fashions are geared toward a promising and concurrently demanding new buyer phase. The cooperation will additional broaden the Audi portfolio of battery electrical automobiles (BEV) in China and speed up the corporate’s transformation on the planet’s largest market.” The primary three BEV fashions might be within the mid-size and full-size segments (B and C. The collaboration mannequin reduces time-to-market by greater than 30%, with the primary mannequin to start gross sales in 2025.
So there you go. AUDI is completely different than Audi, however AUDI continues to be Audi at its core, although AUDI can be SAIC. Makes complete sense. As for the E Idea? I feel it appears fairly nice. AUDI says its design was tailor-made for Chinese language prospects, and the E takes the type of a wagon-y Sportback with a really sloping roofline that also appears to supply a ton of inside area. At 191.7 inches lengthy the E Idea is 5 inches shorter than an Audi RS6, however each wagons are the identical peak of 57.5 inches tall, and the AUDI’s wheelbase is an inch longer.
Its fenders are rounded and actually bulging, and total the AUDI’s clean surfacing is a departure from present Audis. The entrance and rear ends have wraparound black bars that include all the primary lights and sensors (plus the AUDI logos), with the middle panels getting additional triangular lights which might be very Audi. This therapy is “radically new, iconic, and characterful,” in line with AUDI. One other cool ingredient is the middle CHMSL appearing as a mount for the dramatic floating spoiler.
AUDI says most of the individuals who labored on the E Idea beforehand labored at Audi’s Beijing design studio, so it has been designed to fulfill the particular wants of Chinese language prospects. Says AUDI, which means the group “prioritized the mix of the consolation the model is thought for and seamless integration of expertise. Customers thus expertise the AUDI E idea a trendy, snug, and linked oasis match for the city way of life in China’s megacities.”
There’s a curved 4K touchscreen that runs throughout the complete width of the dashboard, with screens for the rear-view cameras added to the ends. The door panels have unimaginable “lamella” tiered wooden sections which might be illuminated, together with tons of microfiber upholstery and different wooden bits all through the cabin. The ambient lighting usually appears actually unbelievable, and there are cool blocky design components to items just like the arm rests.
A brand new AUDI OS infotainment system exhibits “all essential data” with no need to dive into menus, and it presents a sturdy app retailer. There’s additionally a brand new AI avatar referred to as the AUDI Assistant, positioned as a contact management within the heart of the sprint, that “conveys emotional suggestions when interacting,” and the AUDI Management contact bar on the middle console can management something on the primary screens and “adapts contextually to any operate or content material customers are interacting with.”
AUDI says the E Idea has an electrical motor at every axle that give it Audi Quattro all-wheel drive and outputs of 764 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque, adequate for a 0-to-62-mph time of three.6 seconds. Its 100-kWh battery pack offers it a variety of 435 miles on the Chinese language CLTC cycle, and the 800-volt structure means it will probably acquire 230 miles of vary in 10 minutes of charging. AUDI says it “drives like an actual Audi when it comes to consolation in addition to dynamics,” however that it additionally has China-specific driver-assistance options.
The upcoming AUDIs are absolutely not going to come back to the US, however perhaps among the expertise options may. Should you’re visiting China over the subsequent few years, and also you’re uncertain in the event you’re taking a look at an AUDI or an Audi, simply keep in mind: AUDIs say AUDI whereas Audis have 4 rings, although some Audis additionally say Audi in locations.
