AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)08/26 Report--

SAIC has made the latest progress in its cooperation with the Audi brand of Volkswagen Group. Learned from a number of sources, SAIC Audi is planning the establishment of sales channels. It is understood that SAIC Audi will start online recruitment in the second half of 2021, formally establish a sales network in 2021, and officially start selling SAIC Audi's joint venture models in 2022.

It has been 10 months since the construction of SAIC-Volkswagen MEB plant began on October 19 last year. At present, the factory has basically completed the main structure, with 60% of the installation of conveying equipment and 30% of the installation of mechanical and electrical equipment. All the equipment is scheduled to be installed in October this year, and the first trial production prototype car will be officially put off the line in November.

As we all know, SAIC-Volkswagen MEB factory has identified three MEB models, one is launched as an electric SUV concept car called ID. Roomzz, and the other is Skoda's first MEB electric car, Vision iV, and the most important one is Audi's first MEB platform electric car, Q4 e-tron. In other words, if there is no accident, SAIC Audi's first trial production sample car will be officially offline in 3 months' time.

It is understood that the SAIC-Volkswagen new energy vehicle plant project has a total investment of 17 billion yuan, covers a total area of 405600 square meters, and has a planned production capacity of 300000 vehicles. It is composed of functional zones such as stamping, car body, paint, final assembly and battery assembly workshop, with elevated three-dimensional warehouse and test lane, and planned electric vehicle production capacity of 60 vehicles per hour. It is a modern green benchmarking factory integrating intelligent manufacturing, energy saving and environmental protection.

From the factory point of view, SAIC-Volkswagen MEB plant has been under construction since October 2018 and is scheduled to start production in the autumn of 2020. In a 2018 statement, both Volkswagen and SAIC still said they planned to produce up to 300000 MEB power and battery systems a year for Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda brands.

Audi has ranked first in luxury car sales in China for many years, but it has been threatened by Mercedes-Benz and BMW in recent years. Both BMW and Mercedes-Benz outsold Audi in the first half of 2019.

At present, the Audi brand is produced by a joint venture between Volkswagen Group and FAW Group. Audi Chairman Steed said at Audi's annual meeting in 2017, "growth is the common goal of Audi Group and dealers in China, and we will continue to have friendly consultations with relevant parties. If they lose their trust in Audi, we cannot force them to maintain this relationship against their will. "

Subsequently, news continued to spread that Audi and SAIC were negotiating a joint venture. In May, Wei Yongxin, general manager of Audi China, said in an interview with the media that Audi would complete joint venture contract negotiations with SAIC by the end of 2019.

It can be seen that Audi has launched a lot of new energy vehicles in China, and SAIC is not without experience in producing new energy, which is also the focus of cooperation between the two.

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat