This time, uppercase letters make the difference: AUDI is pronounced the same as Audi, but it’s a new and separate brand with a new logo (no four rings), created by Audi in a joint venture with SAIC Motor—the Chinese group that also owns MG—for the Chinese market. The AUDI E Concept is particularly aimed at competing with the Nio ET5 Touring (which we liked a lot).
The introduction of the AUDI brand is just the latest step in the collaboration between Audi and SAIC. Both companies, already working together on joint EV projects, have decided to accelerate the development of new smart and digitized car models to respond quickly to trends in the dynamic and increasingly challenging Chinese market. A SAIC announcement in May had previously revealed plans to develop the “Advanced Digitized Platform” with Audi for high-end electric cars, enhancing synergies and reducing the development time for each new vehicle to just 12 months, instead of 18.
The AUDI E Concept
At the brand launch event, Audi and SAIC unveiled the AUDI E Concept, a concept car that highlights the new brand’s innovative approach. It’s a wagon with shooting brake lines, aesthetically comparable to the Nio ET5 Touring. The E Concept is near production-ready (95% complete, according to the two giants), and its official debut is scheduled for the first half of 2025.
The E Concept boasts high-end technical specifications: it measures 4.8 meters in length, 1.99 in width, and 1.46 in height, with a 2.9-meter wheelbase. It also stands out with its modern design, featuring the AUDI logo in spaced-out LED letters and light clusters that essentially form the bumpers, with a 3D pixel pattern on both the front and rear.
Equipped with a 100 kWh ternary battery pack from CATL and 800-volt charging technology, it offers a range of over 700 km on a full charge, and with fast charging, it can reach up to 370 km of range in just 10 minutes. These features are similar to those of the new Audi A6 Avant e-tron for Europe, which, however, is built on Volkswagen Group’s PPE platform developed jointly with Porsche.
The AUDI E Concept includes an advanced autonomous driving system, with a roof-mounted LiDAR and software developed by Momenta, a Chinese startup majority-owned by SAIC. This system enables advanced autonomous driving capabilities on highways and in urban areas, thanks to NOA (Navigate on Autopilot) technology developed by Momenta for cities, already implemented in SAIC’s IM Motors vehicles, which are expected to arrive in Europe in 2025.
According to local sources, the production version of the E Concept is expected to go into production starting in August 2025 at a plant in Anting, Shanghai, positioning itself as a direct competitor to the Nio ET5 Touring. The price is expected to be around 300,000 RMB (about €38,000), strategically set to attract the mid-high market segment.
