During the 2025 Shanghai Auto Show, the Audi E5 Sportback made its debut. This is the first production model released after the establishment of the AUDI brand, signaling that traditional luxury car brands are responding more proactively to the comprehensive transformation of China's auto industry toward electrification and intelligentization, and are using the Chinese auto market as the center to give back to the global market.
I saw a video online from Auto Market's Xu Chong interviewing Xie Shiqi, Deputy General Manager of SAIC Audi's Marketing Division. Mr. Xie Shiqi gave a comprehensive interpretation of the new AUDI brand.
"AUDI" is officially called the "new AUDI brand," or the "letter logo," and, like the "Audi four-ring brand," both are perfect interpretations of Audi's DNA of "Vorsprung durch Technik."
The Audi four-ring brand has a century of luxury fuel vehicle technology accumulation, representing "attitude, good looks, and strength," and will continue to make progress in internal combustion engine technology in the future, providing even better products for many target customers who still love fuel vehicles and pursue superior mechanical texture and mechanical quality.
As for the new AUDI brand, Mr. Xie Shiqi said it represents a brand image of "forward-looking, sharp, bold, confident, and true to oneself," providing more luxurious and more intelligent new energy vehicle products for users willing to express themselves and brave enough to explore.
Regarding the "Audi E5 Sportback," Mr. Xie Shiqi believes its design language has both classic inheritance and bold innovation. Its design inspiration comes from the "first-generation Audi TT," such as the "round arch"; the model's coupe style draws on some advantages of the RS6, perfectly blending dynamism and elegance; in terms of sci-fi and concept elements, the Audi E5 Sportback also fully draws on the design expression of concept cars such as the RSQ, skillfully integrating futuristic and technological feel into it.
Mr. Xie Shiqi also specifically mentioned the light signature design of the "Audi E5 Sportback," for example, the light pillars and annular light rings at the front of the car are composed of dotted triangles. This is not only a display of the Audi brand's latest technological achievements, but also symbolizes the pursuit and yearning of the new generation of consumers for electrification, intelligentization, and greater luxury. At a time when new energy vehicle design is becoming increasingly homogenized, this breakthrough design language highlights Audi's extremely strong design foundation as a century-old luxury car company. In order to meet the aesthetic needs of China's new-generation automotive consumers, German designers poured a great deal of effort into the Audi E5 Sportback, hoping it can give the new AUDI brand a strong start.
In terms of channel innovation for traditional luxury brands, Audi can be said to be a pioneer. Mr. Xie Shiqi stated: now the Audi E5 Sportback will be sold through SAIC Audi's existing sales channels, but a dedicated area will be set aside for the new AUDI brand, with the aim of making it convenient for users to view and choose cars, including future vehicle use and maintenance services.
Regarding service outlets, Mr. Xie Shiqi mentioned that SAIC Audi's service outlets currently cover nearly 90 core cities across the country, and in future planning, SAIC Audi will also create diversified channels based on the characteristics of Chinese cities, covering different levels of stores such as shopping mall stores and auto parks, further facilitating consumers and continuously improving their comprehensive service experience.
It is expected that by the end of 2025, SAIC Audi's service outlets will reach 240, and the "full-function user center" will become the top priority in SAIC Audi's channel construction, committed to providing high-end users with more personalized, higher-standard, and higher-level service quality, further improving their service experience in "choosing, viewing, buying, and maintaining" cars.
The SAIC Audi brand is committed to further solidifying its brand image of "young, technological, and luxurious." In this regard, Mr. Xie Shiqi said: SAIC Audi is first of all a firm inheritor of the Audi brand, and at the same time a pioneer of innovation for the Audi brand. SAIC Audi will take "tens of billions of luxury genes + excellent mechanical literacy" as its foundation, listen to the voices of Chinese consumers, and devote itself to local innovation, reconstructing brand strategy, and updating product strength.
On the basis of adhering to the Audi brand's strict "safety standards, design standards, and testing standards," SAIC Audi will also boldly innovate according to the needs of Chinese automotive consumers and current domestic auto market consumption trends, such as equipping Huawei Qiankun intelligent driving technology, and actively cooperating with iFlytek and Volcano Engine to empower the Audi assistant, further improving the user experience of car-driver connectivity and human-machine interaction.
Mr. Xie Shiqi stated that the combination of "luxury genes, Chinese intelligent manufacturing, and global vision" will certainly help the SAIC Audi brand further expand and grow. In the future, SAIC Audi will build more luxury intelligent new energy models based on the Advanced Digitized Platform to meet the vehicle needs of more consumers.
At the same time, SAIC Audi will also continue to make progress on the Premium Platform Combustion luxury fuel vehicle platform and actively cooperate with leading Chinese technology companies such as Huawei and iFlytek to provide consumers who favor fuel vehicles with more technologically advanced and modern automotive products, further satisfying their personalized vehicle needs.
When mentioning what constitutes the strict standards of a global luxury car brand, Mr. Xie Shiqi took the all-new SAIC Audi A5L Sportback as an example. In order to cater to the styling design, an embedded lidar was specially customized to better match the aesthetic of the vehicle's overall design. As for assisted driving safety standards, the A5L Sportback is equipped with 2 lidars, 12 high-definition cameras, 6 millimeter-wave radars, and 12 ultrasonic sensors, with as many as 32 perception components providing drivers with all-around environmental perception and extremely high safety performance.
Regarding the energy replenishment network, Mr. Xie Shiqi stated that SAIC Audi and the new AUDI brand have long been actively cooperating with third-party platforms, while also offering home charging piles as an option for users. When the Audi E5 Sportback was first being developed, domestic charging network construction and related standards had already been taken into consideration, so that consumers can enjoy convenient energy replenishment services no matter where they are.
Regarding SAIC Audi's future new product launches, Mr. Xie Shiqi mentioned that the four-ring brand currently has 3 fuel vehicles to be launched, and they will also be equipped with Huawei Qiankun intelligent driving technology; the new AUDI brand will also launch mid-to-large SUVs and mid-to-large sedans in the future..
We can see that SAIC Audi's dual brands simultaneously launched new products at the Shanghai Auto Show, with both wings flying together and dual ace models advancing side by side, indicating that Audi, as a century-old luxury car brand, has taken a new step. This is also a milestone in the Audi brand's transformation toward new energy. In the future domestic auto market, traditional luxury car brands will compete directly with new forces automakers, providing Chinese automotive consumers with more diversified, higher-safety-standard, and more luxurious new energy vehicle products.
Note: The images in the text are from the internet and will be deleted if infringing! The article was written impromptu without review, and I ask for your understanding if there are any errors or omissions!
