Audi will offer more electric car models in China and establish automated driving there, it stated on Tuesday, deepening ties with regional partner FAW Group to face competitors like Mercedes-Benz and BMW in its leading market.
Volkswagen‘s luxury department and other automakers are under pressure to offer greener vehicles in China as the world’s biggest vehicle market tightens up emissions guidelines and prevents using fossil-fueled automobiles in significant cities to combat pollution.
Audi and FAW have accepted to produce 5 more electric cars in China over the next 5 years, the German automaker stated. Audi likewise prepares to develop the A6 L e-tron plug-in hybrid in China this year and import the Q7 e-tron design to the nation.
Future electric models will consist of simply battery-powered cars with a range of over 500 kilometers, Audi stated. The brand presently just imports the A3 e-tron to China, destination of nearly a 3rd of its record 1.87 million deliveries in last year.
” We are beginning the next stage of our joint growth path in China,” Audi sales chief Dietmar Voggenreiter stated. “More than ever, our partnership is concentrating on profitable, sustainable development.”
An early entrant to China, Audi is still the best-selling premium car brand there, although it is quickly losing ground to more recent designs from Mercedes-Benz.
While BMW dropped behind Mercedes-Benz in 2016 in worldwide sales terms, Chinese sales of its BMW brand and Mini models still leapt 11 percent to a record 516,335 cars. Audi’s sales increased just 3.6 percent to 591,554 cars.
