China’s SAIC teams up with Audi to collaboratively develop intelligent electric vehicles as part of their strategic plan.

On July 27, Chinese automaker SAIC Motor signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with German automaker Audi, to co-develop electric vehicles. The joint venture is focused on developing ‘intelligent’ and ‘connected’ electric vehicles by leveraging their respective strengths and engineering solutions. The memorandum states that the partnership will accelerate development of new electric vehicles for Audi and help it meet the demand for the rapidly growing EV market in China. The objective is to bring in the next-generation of intelligent EVs to market, in a quick and efficient manner.

For perspective, SAIC Motor is the same Chinese automotive giant that currently owns Morris Garages (MG Motor) and sells the Hector, Gloster, ZS EV and the Comet EV in India. It remains to be seen if the electric vehicles co-developed with Audi, will also make their way into other global markets such as India, apart from China. SAIC Motor also has production models in other alternative fuel segments such as hydrogen fuel cells and Audi has recently showcased the ACTIVESPHERE EV concept that can support up to Level 5 autonomous driving functions. Considering the rich EV technology that Audi has and can access being part of the Volkswagen Group, it seems unlikely that the fruits of this collaboration will be sold elsewhere in the world but we’ll need to wait for an official confirmation.

The Chinese EV market has been seeing a bloodbath since the beginning of 2023, due to the price war going on between Tesla and other Chinese EV makers including SAIC, BYD, NIO and more. European manufacturers such as Volkswagen AG, which own Audi, have also suffered huge losses in the ongoing price war. After a truce to stop aggressive price cuts between EV manufacturers in China was recently retracted, the joint venture between SAIC and Audi could be seen as a last minute attempt to protect their interests and take the fight to Tesla.
What are your thoughts on the partnership between SAIC and Audi? Let us know in the comments.