Joining Hands on the New Energy Track SAIC and Audi Sign Memorandum of Understanding China | Audi | SAIC in the New Energy Track

35 years ago, Audi friends from Germany signed a technology transfer license contract with China FAW in Changchun. With the first batch of domestically produced Audi 100 cars leaving the factory, the Chinese automotive industry has quickly gained valuable experience in producing high-end luxury cars. 35 years later, "SAIC and Audi teamed up" to make headlines. Recently, SAIC announced that it will cooperate with Audi to accelerate the development of electric vehicles. China Automotive has grown from a technology transferee to a highly attractive potential technology transferor.

Empowering joint ventures with independent technology

Cars have entered the era of intelligent electric vehicles, but European car companies have lagged behind in these two aspects. At present, SAIC Group's technological advantages and innovation capabilities in the fields of intelligence and electrification are leading the world, which is also what Audi values. Once, European friends who came from afar helped China establish a production system for high-end luxury cars, but now it's also China's turn to export advanced technology to the outside world for high-end cars.

SAIC Group has announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Audi, and both parties will combine their respective advantages to accelerate the development of SAIC Audi's new electric vehicle models and meet the demand of Chinese customers for high-end electric intelligent connected vehicles. SAIC will fully utilize its technological advantages, collaborate with Audi to jointly develop products, open a new chapter of joint venture cooperation, and create a new model of mutual benefit and win-win. At present, SAIC Group also has a good performance in the field of new energy vehicles. Its Zhiji brand is a leading electric vehicle platform in China, with rich technological accumulation and product lines. Audi is one of the most famous luxury car brands in Germany, enjoying a high reputation and influence in the global market. Audi also has a deep foundation in the Chinese market and is one of the representatives of high-end cars in the minds of Chinese consumers.

As is well known, SAIC Group has been closely related to Audi for a long time. As early as the 1980s, SAIC Group established a joint venture with Audi's parent company Volkswagen Group, SAIC Volkswagen, and launched multiple best-selling models including the Santana, Passat, Lavida, and Tiguan. Based on the long-standing mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation relationship, as well as their respective strong innovative technological capabilities, SAIC and Audi will actively expand the depth and breadth of cooperation, leverage synergies, and quickly and efficiently launch the next generation of electric vehicles to enter new segmented markets.

The rapid development of technological revolution and new energy vehicles has brought tremendous impact to traditional automotive giants. The cooperation between SAIC Group and Audi will bring multiple benefits to both parties. For Audi, by cooperating with SAIC Group, it can save time and investment in developing its own pure electric platform, and thus launch new pure electric models more quickly to meet the needs of the Chinese market. At the same time, Audi can also leverage SAIC Group's channels and resources in the Chinese market to expand its sales network and service system, and enhance its competitiveness in the Chinese market. For SAIC Group, cooperation with Audi will bring it a broader market and higher brand awareness. SAIC Group can obtain additional technical cooperation revenue and increase its profitability by providing Audi with an electric vehicle platform. At the same time, SAIC Group can also draw on Audi's experience and technology in the luxury car industry to enhance its competitiveness in the high-end market. This will help SAIC Group enter the high-end market and achieve breakthroughs in the field of electric intelligence. At the same time, cooperation will also promote the upgrading and transformation of China's automotive industry, providing consumers with more high-quality choices of electric intelligent vehicles.

SAIC will enter a stage of large-scale and high-speed growth

At present, it is a period of historical transformation in the global automotive industry. As early as 2014, SAIC Group launched the new four modernizations development strategy of "electrification, intelligent networking, sharing, and internationalization", taking the lead in promoting innovative technology layout for new energy vehicles and intelligent driving vehicles, and cultivating core competitiveness in new tracks. This cooperation has attracted much attention because it once again proves to the world that the technological strength of Chinese car companies has greatly improved compared to before, no longer relying solely on foreign car companies to export technology to China, and further verifies that China's new energy vehicles have successfully changed lanes and overtaken.

At the Shanghai Auto Show in April this year, SAIC Group released the "Three Year Action Plan for the Development of New Energy Vehicles": by 2025, SAIC's annual sales of new energy vehicles will reach 3.5 million units, an increase of 2.5 times from 2022, with a compound annual growth rate of 50%, and a comprehensive layout of the new energy vehicle market. This is not only an increase in the sales scale of new energy vehicles, but also a sign of the switching of development momentum between new and old tracks.

SAIC Group's brands such as Zhiji, Feifan, Roewe, MG, and Wuling will form a new energy brand camp with full coverage of the "high, medium, and low, domestic and international" markets. In terms of product lineup, in the next three years, Zhiji will launch three new models, including C, D, and E cars, and SAIC Passenger Cars will launch six new models. In addition, facing the rapid growth of the market for "long pure electric range" hybrid products in the past two years, SAIC Passenger Cars will accelerate the launch of 3-4 "long range hybrid products" such as RX5, RX9, and IMAX8.

In the field of technology, SAIC Group will also be guided by creating a "technological life form", starting from user experience, using a series of cutting-edge technologies, and striving to create a "strong heart" that can bring the ultimate acceleration experience of intelligent electric vehicles, a "agile body" that provides a safe and comfortable experience, and a "smart brain" that provides an intelligent experience.

The 800V silicon carbide electric shaft, which will be put into mass production in the second half of this year, has improved the conversion efficiency of the electric drive system and the overall efficiency of the vehicle with smaller internal resistance, and increased the peak torque to 500 Nm, allowing electric vehicles to easily accelerate to a speed of 100 kilometers per hour in three seconds. The solid-state battery, which is about to be launched in 2024, has a single energy density of up to 368wh/kg, helping vehicles achieve a maximum range of over 1000 kilometers, greatly improving battery safety while reducing costs by 10% -30%. The full stack 3.0 system, which will be fully implemented in 2025, relies on the logic of "central computing+regional control", combined with the vehicle's central coordinated motion controller technology, which will be put into mass production next year, to enable vehicles to have self-learning, self evolution, and self growth capabilities.