In 2021, China's auto market sold 26.275 million vehicles, an increase of 3.8% year-on-year, ending a three-year downward trend since 2018, of which the growth of new energy can be described as indispensable, with 3.521 million vehicles completed in the whole year, an increase of 160% year-on-year. The increasingly obvious trend of energy revolution not only spawned a number of "Wei Xiaoli" to follow up, but also made the giants begin to speed up the pace of turning, of which Audi is one of the representatives.
The plant is about to start construction, and Audi electrification is accelerating
According to the official website of the Jilin Provincial Development and Reform Commission, audi FAW's new energy vehicle project has been announced by the investment project of the Industrial Department of the Jilin Provincial Development and Reform Commission on February 11. According to the announcement, the new energy plant built by the two sides at a cost of 20.9 billion yuan will officially start construction in April, and the completion time is expected to be December 2024. This also means that the Audi FAW project will further accelerate the process, and Audi's electrification in China has also reached a new height.
In most people's cognition, Audi only has two joint venture companies in China, FAW-Volkswagen Audi and SAIC Audi, while Audi FAW is relatively unfamiliar. Indeed, the new company, which was established on March 25, 2021, kicked off after Audi and FAW signed a memorandum of understanding in October 2020.
In the shareholding structure of Audi FAW New Energy, FAW accounts for 40%, Volkswagen China accounts for 5%, and Audi accounts for 55%, which has the actual right to speak, and it is also the third foreign-controlled joint venture car company in China's auto market after BMW Brilliance and Volkswagen Anhui. Audi FAW BJEV's plant in Changchun will also be the main output position of Audi in China's electrification in the future.
At present, Audi mainly has four major platforms, aside from the uniqueness of the J1 high-performance platform, the remaining three platforms can be described as their own duties, of which the MLB evo platform is the prelude to Audi electrification, but because it originally belongs to the fuel vehicle platform, so the electric vehicle model it produces is not much competitive in endurance and power. The second MEB platform is the top pillar of the current Volkswagen brand in electrification, which is equipped at the FAW-Volkswagen Foshan plant and the SAIC Volkswagen Anting plant, which not only produces the Volkswagen ID. series of models, but also produces some e-tron models of the Audi brand, which is also the main output platform for Audi electrification.
The new handle of the Changchun plant, the PPE platform, includes the production conditions of medium-sized cars, large cars and SUVs, which is a platform jointly developed and designed by Audi and Porsche, aiming at the standard of luxury cars, and the future is most likely to produce Audi's electric vehicle flagship model, or it will also be the guarantee of Audi's production capacity in the Chinese market.
According to the plan, the new factory in Changchun covers an area of 2.46 million square meters, with an annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles, and its scale belongs to the forefront of domestic factories in terms of floor space alone, which is more than double that of Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory after expansion. Because the new factory includes conventional workshops such as welding, splicing, and battery assembly for automobile production, it is also equipped with training centers and other related industrial chain facilities, and its thickness is unmatched by The other two major production plants in China.
Electrification + high-end, PPE platform into the key
The promotion of the Audi FAW New Energy Automobile Company project is the further deepening of the brand's new energy strength in the Chinese market, and it is also an important cornerstone for its electrification development in China. In fact, according to Audi's plan, by 2025, the brand will invest 35 billion euros in the field of electrification, and the number of electric products will be increased to 30 until it becomes an all-electric luxury car brand. Among them, China, as the world's largest sales market, will naturally become the top priority, after all, every three Audis, one of them is sold in the Chinese market, which is why in the context of already having two joint ventures, Audi also has to build high-rise buildings specifically for the brand's new energy development in China.
The Changchun plant, with capacity improvement and model library expansion as its main responsibility, will become a key point for Audi's electrification layout and in-depth development in the Chinese market in the future. In fact, in addition to electrification, Audi's future keywords are high-end. Previously, Audi CEO Marcus Dusman said in an interview in Germany that Audi's high-end brand definition will change, and the development of entry-level models will be restricted in the future, as well as the continuous expansion of high-end model options.
Projected into the recent audi action, the brand has announced the suspension of entry-level models A1 and Q2, and there will be no new iteration models since then, which has launched an impact on the higher end, which is more in line with the positioning of the high-end of the PPE platform, after all, the background from the joint development of Porsche and Audi has made it have an extraordinary beginning.
As the first luxury brand to achieve 7 million sales in China, Audi has been playing a pivotal role in the Chinese auto market in the past two years. In the rising sales volume, Audi wants to convert one-third of its sales in China into electric vehicles in 2025, and it is far from enough to rely on the current model reserves and production capacity strength, which also requires the PPE platform to add impetus to model expansion and production capacity.
According to the announcement, the new factory will produce three pure electric new energy models after completion, and after 2025, this may also become Audi's main combat force in the field of new energy for a period of time. In addition to production capacity, the proprietary technology layout contained in the PPE platform can further help Audi electric models achieve a wider range of high-tech configurations. The new factory is not only a decisive factor for Audi to compete in a higher number of electric planning, but also an important weight for Audi to launch an impact on high-end on the road to electrification in the future.
Write at the end:
The establishment of the third joint venture company, foreign capital, and the establishment of Audi FAW New Energy Automobile Company is not only an improvement in the overall strength, but also a significant promotion of the electrification of the brand in the Chinese market. The introduction of the PPE platform is an all-round improvement of its quantity and quality in the field of new energy. After the Changchun factory is completed and put into operation in 2024, after two years of rapid development of the new energy market, the market-driven trend has become more and more significant, and the industry rules have become clearer, which belongs to Audi's new luxury leadership era or will come.