Audi and Chinese carmaker SAIC have opened an innovation centre in Shanghai for the new AUDI brand aimed at the Chinese market. The team is expected to develop four vehicles on a new digital platform.
The centre will combine work on electric drive systems, connectivity, cockpit software, artificial intelligence features and driver assistance. Development inside China is intended to shorten the path from local user needs to a production car.
The new brand uses the AUDI wordmark without the traditional four rings. This distinction highlights a separate product family combining a German name with the technical resources of a local partner.
Four planned models show that the programme is more than a single experiment. Its success will depend on software quality, update speed and whether the new identity can win customers in China's intensely competitive market.
