Expanding Activities in China: VW Brand Invests in Xpeng, Audi Deepens Cooperation with SAIC

The concern is expanding its activities in China. While the VW brand invests in the Xpeng brand, the Audi brand has agreed on deeper long-term cooperation with the SAIC company.

The Volkswagen Group boasted the conclusion of two important agreements, which should strengthen the presence of the concern on the Chinese market and expand product portfolios focused on the Chinese market. At the same time, the Volkswagen and Audi brands concluded the agreements as part of the “in China, for China” strategy.

In particular, the VW brand concluded an agreement with the Chinese car manufacturer Xpeng, in which it invested 700 million dollars, securing a 4.99% stake in the company. Although this agreement is still awaiting the final fine-tuning of conditions and approval from the authorities, if it is approved, it will ensure the German brand a seat on the board of the Xpeng car company.

Although it is one of the smaller players on the Chinese market, it has recently attracted attention with its technological innovations, including the sophisticated XNGP driving assistant. In addition, the brand has started entering the European market, where it plans to compete with the Tesla Model Y with its electric crossover G6. However, at more affordable prices.

Volkswagen hopes the partnership with automaker Xpeng will help the VW brand better compete with Tesla and BYD in the huge Chinese market. The first joint project should be medium-sized electric cars, specifically designed for the Chinese market, which will arrive in 2026.

The Audi brand then boasted of deepening its long-term cooperation with the Chinese company SAIC, which should reverse the trend of declining sales. After all, the brand with four rings was overtaken in the Chinese market even by its traditional German premium competitors.

The partnership would see the companies develop a new generation of premium “intelligent connected vehicles” (ICVs). The result should be a premium electric platform, developed specifically for China, which will be aimed at a segment in which the Audi brand is not yet present on the Chinese market.

There is still no more detailed information about this cooperation, but according to speculations pointed out by colleagues from Carscoops, the Audi brand was supposed to show interest in the platform of the IM Motors brand, owned by the SAIC company. This platform, working with the 800V architecture, is the basis of the L7 electric sedan and the LS7 SUV.

2023-07-27 15:58:00
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