Audi and SAIC establish a new brand called… AUDI

Where are the rings, Audi? That’s a legitimate question for the company’s latest concept, now unveiled in Shanghai. This design concept is not Audi. He is AUDI. Volkswagen’s premium brand is teaming up with SAIC to establish a new company in China. And of all the possible names that the marketing team could have chosen, they chose AUDI, and that’s it…

In order to avoid confusion (although it is too late for that), the cars will not wear the legendary four rings. Instead, the new logo will consist of four capital letters: AUD I. The first model is the AUDI E Concept, from which three serial vehicles should emerge in the middle of next year. These AUDI cars will exist in peaceful coexistence with standard Audis and the historic logo from the Auto Union era.

With the A8L Horch model, which was launched three years ago in China, Audi seemed to want to revive old brands. Maybe that would make more sense than simply calling the new company AUDI? Auto Union, NSU, DKW and Wanderer also had historical significance. Of course, Audi and SAIC could have chosen a completely new name. But that might make too much sense. On the other hand, a new sub-brand appears every few weeks in China, so choosing an entirely new name might not have the same effect.

While the regular Audi company won’t stop producing internal combustion engines until later in the next decade, the brand from China, shown in big letters, will be all-electric from the start. In addition to the powertrain, the absence of the iconic logo seems strange, and it will take time to get used to seeing only AUDI instead. Otherwise, these new cars will only be sold in China. The first series will include mid- and upper-class models.

In addition to the questionable AUDI inscription, these cars will differ from global models with a design tailored to Chinese customers. This concept certainly doesn’t resemble a typical electric Audi – without the four capital letters, we really wouldn’t recognize the brand. The Audi-SAIC duo even goes so far as to claim that these cars will have a “revolutionary design”. In the case of this concept, it’s called the Sportback. But to us it looks more like a big station wagon.