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A few days ago, SAIC Audi General Manager Jia Ming dysprosium said in an interview, "in fact, the Audi brand is not as everyone imagined, but it really can go up." It is possible that this user base is small and is not a mainstream user base, but at least we see an opportunity for it to grow into a mainstream user base. " He said, "now we see it is a good seedling, but it is very small, we think we need a little time to make it look long, maybe it will grow into a watermelon."

Since SAIC and Audi signed a non-binding agreement in November 2016, the two sides plan to cooperate in the production and sale of Audi-branded cars. By January 2022, the Audi A7L was officially put on the market. SAIC Audi's road from 0 to 1 was not smooth. During the period, the project was stalled due to opposition from FAW Audi dealers.

On January 1, 2022, SAIC Audi A7L 55TFSI held a delivery ceremony at the Audi Enterprise Huihui, the flagship center of SAIC Audi brand. At the same time, SAIC Audi A7L 45TFSI is officially listed with a price range of 45.97-519700 yuan, of which the entry-level model is a pioneer and the other four models are four-wheel drive. In terms of power, the new car is equipped with a high-power 2.0T turbocharged four-cylinder engine and will be officially delivered in March 2022. Jia Mingdi, who participated in building SAIC Audi brand along the way, said bluntly at the SAIC Audi media conference: "We hope to become the 'ceiling' for luxury car production in China."

At present, SAIC Audi has Audi A7L and Audi Q5 e-tron two models on sale. Among them, the domestic version of Audi A7L costs 44.97-777700 yuan, and the 2.0T and 3.0T versions are available. Compared with the imported Audi A7, the domestic version of A7L has a richer configuration and a lower price. Previously, Jia Mingdi thought that the sales target for 2022 was not important: "in 2022, the sales target is not the most important. SAIC Audi hopes to continue to build and consolidate its brand image and positioning." but still hope to achieve sales of more than 40,000 vehicles in the first year.

If the annual sales target of 40,000 vehicles is for FAW-Audi, it may only take one month to complete, and although SAIC Audi is a new joint venture brand, it is highly known and recognized in China. For Audi, which has a mature dealer system (the sales service of SAIC Audi cars is also set up by FAW-Volkswagen Audi dealers) Annual sales of 40,000 vehicles should also be an easy target.

However, from the current point of view, SAIC Audi's performance is hardly optimistic. The above automobile Audi A7, for example, is insured from January to April, while the imported Audi A7 is 1230 in the same period. The domestic version can not sell the imported version, which is not common in the auto market.

So why can't SAIC Audi sell? Anything that is not going well can first throw the pot into the epidemic, and of course this is also the case, especially since March this year, the prevention and control of the epidemic in Shanghai directly led to the shutdown of the entire city. Tesla, SAIC-Volkswagen, SAIC-GM and other parts suppliers stopped work and production, and it is not incomprehensible for SAIC Audi, which is at the center of the epidemic, to hand over such results.

So what are the reasons for SAIC Audi itself? As the first mass-produced model, the SAIC Audi A7 is lengthened on the basis of the imported A7, which is not wrong. It can be seen as further magnifying the advantages of the imported A7, but at the same time, the manufacturer cancels the slippery-back body of the imported A7 and becomes a standard hatchback, sacrificing the personalization of the imported A7. Although the configuration of SAIC Audi A7L is richer and the price is lower, there seems to be little difference compared with the official guide price of FAW Audi A6L, but it should be noted that the unique characteristics of imported A7 on the slippery body. FAW Audi A6L also has a certain degree of discount in the end market. At present, SAIC Audi A7L does not perform well, whether it is the cause of the epidemic or the product remains to be examined, but the market will eventually give the answer.

It is understood that SAIC Audi will launch the third production car, that is, Audi Q6, in the second half of this year. The new car is based on Volkswagen's MQB Evo platform and is positioned as a medium-and large-scale luxury SUV. In terms of power, the new car will use a 2.0T turbocharged four-cylinder engine codenamed EA888 Evo 4 and will be divided into high and low power versions, with a maximum power of 265hp and a maximum torque of 400Nm in the high-power version and 231hp in the low-power version. Comprehensive SAIC Audi product positioning and Q6 model positioning, the car is expected to sell between 50-700000 yuan.

For now, SAIC Audi's desire to sell 40,000 vehicles a year may come to naught, and it may even be difficult to complete more than half of the sales. Of course, as Jia Ming dysprosium said, "now it is a good seedling, but it is very small and it takes a little time for it to grow." For the young SAIC Audi, the market will give a certain amount of time, and it will have more room for development, but the indifference of the Audi A7L is really worth SAIC Audi's warning to think seriously about what users need.

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