On New Year's Day 2022, SAIC Audi finally launched its first model, the A7L. This also marks that SAIC Audi, which has been full of five years since the start of the project in 2016, has finally broken through the cocoon into a butterfly. It may also be because of the emergence of SAIC Audi that Audi has become the first car company in the domestic market to realize the "double luxury brand strategy". Therefore, people pay great attention to saicutical Audi, a familiar and unfamiliar "new luxury brand".
As a practitioner of the automotive industry, the author has no small expectations for the birth of SAIC Audi, in addition to thinking from the perspective of the industry. Finally, in recent days, the author had the opportunity to go to Xiamen to deeply experience the two new models of SAIC Audi: A7L&Q5 e-tron, whether SAIC Audi can work or not, from these two real cars can be seen in the real chapter.
Q5 e-tron: Familiar Audi flavor, different sense of luxury
From the perspective of the timeline, the SAIC Audi after the start is very fast. After completing the delivery and listing of the A7L on New Year's Day this year, it launched its second model under the brand on February 18, which is also the first pure electric model of SAIC Audi - Q5 e-tron.
When you hear this name, you should not hastily understand it as a pure electric version of the Audi Q5L, they are actually just similar names, and there is no connection in the essence of the product. Q5 e-tron, although named "Q5", but it is a solid MEB platform origin, about the MEB platform, I believe there is no need to repeat it. All in all, the Q5 e-tron doesn't have any overlap with The North Audi product. To say more, according to the current product planning of SAIC Audi, its new products will not overlap with FAW Audi in the future, in other words, the birth of SAIC Audi not only enriches the product line of the Audi brand in the domestic market, but also accelerates the electrification transformation of the Audi brand, perhaps this is the meaning of the birth of SAIC Audi.
Speaking of this Q5 e-tron, at the design level, the Q5 e-tron first brings people a bright feeling, its prototype car has long been seen, that is, Audi concept Shanghai. After mass production, SAIC Audi divided it into two exterior design styles, namely the brocade suit and the mecha suit. However, for the Q5 e-tron, which is already a very futuristic basic style, both of them are quite good-looking, and the actual difference is not very big.
In terms of interior, it is a more interesting place for the Q5 e-tron. It adopts Audi's latest design style, exaggerated air outlet shape, full touch multi-function steering wheel buttons, electronic gear shifts and other small details make the Q5 e-tron interior look very technological. It is worth saying that it has a relatively rare three-row layout, and the emergence of the Q5 e-tron is a blessing for friends who have many people's car needs.
In terms of dynamics, the experience of it this time is mainly a test drive on the site, so we try to pick dry goods as much as possible. At present, the Q5 e-tron can be divided into two major versions, namely the 40 e-tron version and the 50 e-tron quattro version, which correspond to 560KM and 520KM respectively. The model we tested this time is mainly the 50 e-tron quattro version. It has a maximum power of 225 kW and a maximum torque of 460 N·m.
Although the Q5 e-tron is a big man, such a power parameter pushes it is still a piece of cake. Although it doesn't have the dizzying pushback sensation like Tesla, you can clearly feel its power endlessly and inexhaustible. Unfortunately, due to the test drive of the venue, it did not have too deep an acceleration experience. However, in projects such as piling and hump bridge, people still fully feel the strong mechanical quality of the Audi brand, and the response speed of the support and four-wheel drive system is quite satisfactory. Moreover, the delicate feel of the steering is by no means something that ordinary new car-making forces can learn overnight, which is the real skill. In this way, the price of Q5 e-tron entry 395,500 is still quite sincere, after all, the Weilai ES6 next door is about 460,000.
A7L: The quality is not reduced, and the positioning is changeable
I believe that compared with the pure electric Q5 e-tron, most friends should be more concerned about this A7L that has attracted much attention in the industry. In fact, about the sound of this car, the author has indeed heard a lot. There are optimistic and there are doubts. However, after this experience, I seem to understand the intention of SAIC Audi.
We cut from its original model A7, A7 belongs to the luxury coupe, the essence of this type of car is personality, but the direct contradiction with "personality" is "sales", for SAIC Audi, it is not easy to balance personality and sales. Therefore, the only thing SAIC Audi can do is to change the positioning of the model. As a result, the A7L we see today was abandoned and replaced by a traditional sedan. Such a simple change has changed the positioning of the A7L.
In other words, if you have to use A7 as a template to look at A7L, you may feel that it is not pure enough. But suppose you change your mind: A7L is actually only the same name as A7 at present, and the positioning is completely different, is this matter reasonable? In fact, as a domestically produced extended model, the A7L has been greatly improved in space, from the slightly crowded rear of the previous rear to today's "executive-level car". The wheelbase of 3026mm even directly surpasses the A6L that positions business.
And such a generous space is also A7L's abandonment of a certain "personalization" in exchange. Today's A7L, less is nothing more than the import of A7 that is publicity, and on the basis of the original, there is a little more stability and refinement. For example, air suspension, electric suction doors, seat massage, laser headlights and other configurations, from the perspective of these configuration levels alone, in fact, you can see a problem from the side, that is, the ordering of A7L in the Audi family is definitely not A6L comparable.
In terms of driving experience, the A7L test drive this time is all 55TFSI 3.0T version, which is the same as the data of the previous imported version. The maximum power is 250 kW and the maximum torque is 500 N·m, and it is equipped with a 48V light mixing system, which matches the 7-speed dual-clutch transmission.
In terms of power reserve, this V6 engine is an undoubted "excess" performance, after all, 340 horsepower is placed here, and it is still easy to promote this A7L. But the key is not the power, but the NVH performance of the A7L and the smoothness of the driving experience. As we all know, the frameless door will be relatively louder when running on the road, but the performance on the A7L is obviously much better, and with a smooth driving experience, it is difficult to pick out anything wrong.
The second is the chassis texture, although it is called A7L, but its chassis comfort is better than the imported version of the A7 I have opened before. On the one hand, thanks to the active air suspension system of the A7L high-end model, on the other hand, SAIC Audi engineers must also optimize the integrity of its chassis after extending the wheelbase. So, if I had to evaluate, the former imported A7 was a sports coupe suitable for young people, while today's A7L is a sleek polyhedron that is not obtrusive anywhere.
Conclusion: Some people were worried that under the background of FAW Audi's deep cultivation in the market for many years and occupying a variety of models, the development prospects of SAIC Audi will be restricted? Objectively speaking, I have also had such a view before. But now, after actually experiencing two SAIC Audi products, my perspective has changed. SAIC Audi has relied on the advantages of SAIC Group and has well inherited the excellent genes of the Audi brand. Coupled with different product positioning and novel sales models, SAIC Audi's tomorrow is worth looking forward to.