Audi’s new brand in China is called AUDI, without the Four Rings

Where are the rings Audi? It’s a legitimate question for the company’s new concept presented today in Shanghai. But this is not an Audi. It’s aAUDI. The luxury brand of the Volkswagen Group empire is teaming up with SAIC to launch a new automotive company in China.

Of all the names the marketing team could have chosen, they decided to go with AUDI and close the matter.

No Four Rings for AUDI

To avoid confusion (it’s too late now)the cars will not have the legendary Four Rings. The new logo will instead be composed of four capital letters: AUDI. The first is the concept AUDI Ewith three production cars to be launched from mid-2025. These AUDIs will peacefully coexist with regular production AUDIs with the historic logo dating back to the Auto Union era.

With the A8L Horch launched in China three years ago, Audi seemed intent on dusting off the old brands. Maybe it would have been more logical instead to call the new company simply AUDI? Auto Union, NSU, DKW and Wanderer also made historical sense.

Of course, Audi and SAIC could have chosen a new name. But maybe it would have made too much sense. On the other hand, it seems to be born in China a new sub-brand every two weeksso choosing a completely new name wouldn’t have had the same impact.

Photo at: Audi

AUDI E Concept, front three-quarter view

AUDI electric only

While the regular Audi company won’t abandon combustion engines until the end of the next decade, its namesake brand, the one with capital letters in China, will be exclusively electric. Aside from the powertrain, the absence of the iconic logo looks strange and getting used to seeing AUDI in its place will take some time. It is worth noting that these new cars will be sold only in China. The first wave of products will consist of medium and large models.

Photo at: Audi

AUDI E Concept, the interiors

Photo at: Audi

AUDI E Concept, rear three-quarter view

Beyond the questionable AUDI lettering, these cars will look different from global models thanks to a design “tailored for Chinese customers.” This concept certainly doesn’t resemble a typical electric Audi, so much so that we honestly couldn’t identify the brand if it weren’t for the four oversized letters. The Audi-SAIC duo goes as far as to say that these cars will have a “revolutionary design.” In the case of this concept, it is labeled as a Sportback. But to us it looks more like a large wagon.

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