In April 2021, the SAIC Audi Night with the theme of "Enterprising, Entering the Future" was held in Shanghai, at which the SAIC Audi brand was officially unveiled, which not only marked the official opening of the cooperation between SAIC Group and Audi, but also opened a new chapter in the development of the Audi brand in China. Just recently, SAIC Audi's first model - A7L was officially launched, the new car in the continuation of the previous imported version of the model design style at the same time, but also lengthened the wheelbase, improved the configuration, luxury attributes further improved, and more in line with the domestic consumers' car habits. So how does this new model perform in terms of product strength? Can it be recognized by domestic consumers? This issue of the quality car will be interpreted in detail for you.
First, basic information and product highlights
SAIC Audi A7L launched a total of 11 models, of which 2.0T has five models, 3.0T has six models, from the price point of view, the price of the entry-level model and the price of the top model span is larger, and the price of the top model has been higher than that of the imported version. In terms of design, the new car follows the design style of the imported version of the model, and the overall style is full of sport. In terms of body size, thanks to the longer wheelbase, the LEG space of the SAIC Audi A7L will be more generous.
In terms of body design, SAIC Audi A7L follows the style of imported models as a whole, and the blackened air intake grille and LOGO add a sporty atmosphere, while the new car grille also provides a common metallic texture style. The lengthened A7L is 5076mm, 1908mm and 1429mm, with a wheelbase of 3026mm, respectively. Compared with the imported version of the model, the overall body shape has become more slender, and thanks to the wheelbase of 3026mm, the seating space in the car, especially the rear legroom, has been significantly increased.
It is worth mentioning that the SAIC Audi A7L is also equipped with laser headlights, which is also the only model equipped with laser headlights in Audi's domestic fuel vehicles. Compared with the current LED headlights and halogen headlights, the light source of the laser headlights shines farther, with high brightness and low divergence, which makes the driver's field of vision more open at night. In addition, LED headlights have a longer life and higher economy.
In terms of performance, the car is also equipped with DAWS dynamic all-wheel steering function, the rear wheel and the front wheel steering opposite at low speed to reduce the difficulty of right angle turning and U-turn operation, and at high speed, the rear wheel is the same as the front wheel steering, increasing the stability when changing lanes. In addition, the Audi A7L is also equipped with a 48V light mix system, which makes the car start more calmly and has a higher ride comfort, which is also not available in previous imported models.
Second, product competitiveness analysis
Nowadays, the domestic luxury medium and large sedan fashion competition is more fierce, especially the BBA traditional strong competition is in the white-hot stage, if you want to continue to get more market share, the launch of subdivision products is particularly important. After the launch of the SAIC Audi A7L, it is bound to face the mainstream luxury medium and large sedans in the market, including BMW Brilliance 5 Series and Beijing Benz E-Class.
From the current price point of view, due to the increase in SAIC Audi A7L 3.0T power, the price of the top model is much higher than that of the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class. However, the 2.0T version of the three models is priced in the same range, but the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and BMW 5 Series 2.0T top-mounted models are both priced higher than the Audi A7L. In terms of model discounts, since the SAIC Audi A7L has just been listed, there are currently no offers. The BMW Brilliance 5 Series and Beijing Benz E-Class have discounts of 58,000 yuan and 90,000 yuan respectively. (For reference only, subject to the actual arrival discount)
From the perspective of exterior design, the three models have adopted their own brand family design language, BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class Sport Edition and Audi A7L have a good sense of sport. Among them, the overall shape of the Audi A7L is smooth, and the large-scale slip-back design has a strong coupe style. Bmw 5 Series benefits from the addition of the M Sports Kit, the honeycomb grille of the front bumper and the black tail throat at the rear surround, which increases the sense of performance; the front grille of the Beijing Mercedes-Benz E-Class Sport Edition adopts the Xinghui dot matrix design, with a huge LOGO, which is very visually impactful.
To facilitate the comparison of configurations, we selected three models with similar prices for comparison. It is worth mentioning that the selected Audi A7L model is a four-wheel drive version, which is bound to be stronger than the other two rear-drive models in terms of driving control. In terms of specific configuration, the focus of the three models is different, but the basic configuration is relatively perfect, but in the optional configuration, the Audi A7L provides more optional opportunities, which is enough to meet the individual needs of consumers.
Third, product quality & service trend analysis
As a brand new model of SAIC Audi, will the A7L have the hidden danger of quality problems? In this regard, we will start from the failure of the Audi A7L model in the past year, and compare the fault problems to preliminarily predict the development trend of the quality problems of new cars in the future. Since the Audi A7L is a brand new model, we will analyze the complaints of the Audi brand domestic sedan in the past year.
Through the analysis of complaints about Audi brand domestic cars in the past year, it can be found that the fault problem is mainly concentrated in the "lampshade crack or deformation", and the complaints are mainly concentrated in the Audi A4L model. Through further analysis, it is known that most of the above problems come from the 2020 models. Because the Audi A7L adopts a new styling style, it can be considered that the probability of the above problems is small, but whether there will be new problems will be determined after it is listed for a period of time.
With the continuous development of the mainland automobile market, the level of brand pre-sales/after-sales service, and the quality of the purchase experience have gradually become an important factor affecting consumers' final purchase. Therefore, based on the massive big data of the vehicle quality network, we will analyze the service problems that have prevailed in brands or car series in the past year to provide a more objective reference for consumers to purchase models.
Since the Audi A7L is a brand new model, we will analyze the complaints about service problems in audi brand cars in the past year. By screening the complaint data of the Audi brand, it can be found that the service problem point with relatively many complaints is "can't lift the car", which is mostly concentrated on the 2020 Audi A4L model. In contrast, there are relatively few complaints from other service problem points.
In terms of measuring the reputation of new car after-sales service, we will analyze the response of enterprises to car owners' complaints, and relatively objectively predict the future after-sales service reputation of new cars. According to the data of the car quality network, the complaint response rate of the domestic models under the Audi brand in the past year is 98.7%, which shows that the manufacturer's attention to the demands of the car owner is still relatively high.
Fourth, after-sales service policy and network distribution
According to the official website of SAIC Audi, users who purchase A7L can enjoy 3 years and 100,000 kilometers of vehicle warranty, 4 years of free basic maintenance, 3 years of 24-hour safety consultant accident handling assistance, the first year of free original paint repair, 1 year or 20,000 kilometers of tire safety use guarantee, the first year of free insurance scooter service, 3 years of free mobile Internet service, three years of free basic traffic, three years of monthly free general traffic, free mileage in the same city, free car wash, Complimentary basic exclusive parking and parking, complimentary airport lounges, complimentary airport transfers and complimentary one-way and hassle-free use of the car. In terms of financial policy, users who buy Audi A7L have a minimum down payment of 20% and a maximum of 60 periods of low-interest financial solutions. You can also enjoy a financial plan with a maximum of 24 installments of 0 interest.
After the purchase of the vehicle, it is bound to involve the daily maintenance of the vehicle, at which time the number and distribution of the brand dealer stores are very important, and even have a certain impact on whether consumers buy the brand model. According to the statistics of the car quality network, the SAIC Audi brand currently has 9 dealer stores in China, covering 8 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government. Overall, since the SAIC Audi brand has just been established, the number of dealers is still small, and with the passage of time, the number of dealers will gradually increase.
summary
At present, almost all of Audi's products are produced by FAW-Volkswagen, but in the face of such a large and demanding Chinese market, Audi's development of personalized products is indeed a good choice. The SAIC Audi A7L is not only as simple as lengthening the Audi A7 Sportback, the wheelbase lengthening and sedan body shape have greatly changed its product positioning compared with the imported version. From the perspective of the product itself, the overall strength of saicus Audi A7L is relatively outstanding, and the more sporty shape is not available in the Audi A6L, BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class, plus the power combination of 2.0T and 3.0T is also very in line with the positioning of its coupe models. In terms of configuration, a wealth of technology configurations and optional configurations also meet our personalized choices. If you want to buy a luxury sports sedan that combines performance and space, the SAIC Audi A7L is undoubtedly a good choice.