According to a report, the brand is already in talks with China-based companies.
Audi is looking to bolster the pace of developing electric vehicles with the help of partners in China. This was revealed by a report in the German publication Automobilwoche, stating that the car brand is even considering outright purchasing an EV platform from one of its regional competitors.
If one remembers, the brand's relatively slow EV technology development is one of the sore spots that caused the sacking of Markus Duesmann, who will be replaced by Gernot Doellner as Audi CEO from September 1, 2023.
The same report says that the leadership of Audi's parent company, the Volkswagen Group, has already approved the EV platform acquisition plan. After this, Audi's board will deliberate the proposal to get a proper green light.
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Interestingly, the German car brand has not shared this plan openly and even denied its existence to the media. But the same source says that it is already in talks with several China-based companies.
It wasn't stated outright which of these companies are, but the largest in the region are GAC, Geely, BYD, SAIC, etc. Among these, one to watch out for is Warren Buffett-backed BYD. It already has plans to enter the US market, and its Han EV model, designed to compete against the Tesla Model 3, might have the right bits to make for an appealing Audi EV.
Another big contender for Audi's plan is Geely. This gigantic Chinese car brand owns Lotus and Volvo and has the Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) platform. This is of particular note, as the company intends to offer it as an open-source platform to be used by third parties.
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The Volkswagen Group has its upcoming Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) which will come out in 2026. There's also the fact that the German marque is planning to sell two models based on the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) in China in 2024. These are the Q6 e-tron crossover and the A6 e-tron sedan.
So if Audi is indeed planning on getting a Chinese-made platform, this might be for a region-specific model for it to address gaps in its current lineup. Maybe it will also enable the Ingolstadt-based brand to play catch-up with Tesla, which is currently dominating the global EV market due to its recent price cuts.
Take what you learned here with a grain of salt, though, and let's all wait for further developments and official confirmation.
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Keyword: Audi Wants To Buy EV Platforms From An Unlikely Source