Volkswagen AG's (OTC:VWAGY) luxury vehicle subsidiary, Audi said it is planning to develop new models built on a China-specific platform named "Advanced Digitized Platform" for the next generations of premium intelligent, connected vehicles (ICV) along with SAIC.
The cooperation will further expand Audi's BEV portfolio in China and accelerate Audi's transformation in the biggest market in the world.
The first three BEV models will cover the B and C segments and will help Audi to reduce time-to-market by more than 30% with the first model to enter the market in 2025.
The move marks further cooperation between Audi and SAIC, which began with Volkswagen's announcement in July of a $700 million investment in Xpeng Inc (NYSE:XPEV) for a 4.99% stake, along with plans to co-develop two Volkswagen-branded EV models by 2026, reported Reuters.
This collaboration highlights the increasing reliance of European automakers on Chinese technological expertise in the EV sector.
Stellantis N.V. (NYSE:STLA) recently revealed that its partnership with Chinese company Leapmotor will bring two Leapmotor models to the European market starting in September.
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"The Volkswagen Group is accelerating its electric campaign with the consistent implementation of its "in China for China" approach. In this respect, we are relying in particular on the strong cooperation with our joint venture partners," said a member of the Group Board of Management for the China region, Ralf Brandstätter.
A joint project team has been set up with Fermín Soneira from Audi as the CEO.
"We have a clear and common goal: to combine the best of our two companies to the full advantage of our Chinese customers with Audi's premium experience and SAIC's innovation speed in China," said Audi AG CEO Gernot Döllner.
The report further mentioned Audi currently uses Volkswagen's MEB platform for its Q4 e-tron and Q5 e-tron models in China, developed through joint ventures with both SAIC and FAW.
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Price Action: VWAGY shares closed higher by 0.85% at $15.21 on Friday.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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