With the aim of accelerating the transformation to electric mobility, vehicle manufacturer Audi continues to take important steps. In 2021, despite a global semi-conductor shortage, the brand increased deliveries of all-electric cars by 57.5% year-on-year.
By 2025, Audi plans to have more than 20 fully electrified models in its portfolio, and from 2026, it will exclusively bring new models with these technologies to market.
In addition to the interesting numbers provided by the automaker, there is also a project to build a factory in China, as a result of the alliance with First Automotive Works (FAW), and thus take advantage of the regulatory flexibility, such as the fact that foreign capital must be 60%, and the rest is provided by the Chinese state-owned manufacturer.
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With an investment of almost 3.3 billion euros, the partnership obtained permission to start construction work on the new factory, so building will begin soon. It is expected to start series production in December 2024.
Scope and Models to be Manufactured
According to Audi and FAW projections, the new facility will add 150,000 units per year to the Volkswagen Group’s local production capacity across the Asian country, approaching one million. Volkswagen and FAW currently have four factories with a combined scope of about 700,000 cars.
Regarding the range, three 100% electric models will be produced at the complex, including the Audi e-tron SUV. This prototype has been manufactured locally in China since September 2020, previously arriving from Europe and taxed with import tariffs, although they surely refer to its replacement, Q8 e-tron, given the date.
In addition, Audi informed that in the future, the company will also produce in China electric vehicles based on the Premium Electric Platform (PPE), developed together with Porsche, to further advance in the transformation of what remains its largest market. From 2024, various all-electric drive models will be produced for the Chinese market on this new platform.
Audi’s numbers in China
According to official company data on the Asian giant, Audi ended 2021 with 701,289 vehicles delivered and a decline of 3.6 %. After a record 2020, the fourth quarter was particularly marked by the shortage of locally produced semiconductors for cars.
Imported Audi models recorded a significant increase in demand with 53%. The Audi A5 with 96.7 %, the Audi Q7 with 74.4 % and the all-electric Audi e-tron 68.7 % showed a particularly positive development. In addition, sales of Audi Sport models more than doubled compared to 2020.
Written by I Jhonattan González
