German premium automaker Audi said on Tuesday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with China’s state-owned FAW Group to start a venture for making premium electric vehicles (EVs).
Audi has a long partnership with FAW, which is based in the city of Changchun located in the northeast of China. The German automaker also prepares to make vehicles with Shanghai-based automaker SAIC Motor.
The German automaker said it would produce models based on the Premium Platform Electric (PPE), a base it developed with Porsche. It said the new venture would start manufacturing several models in China by 2024.
Audi aims to have electrified vehicles comprise a third of Chinese sales by 2025. It sold 512,081 vehicles in China in the first nine months of this year and about 690,000 vehicles last year.
Audi and Porsche’s representatives in China said there was no preparation for Porsche production at the new venture.
Electric vehicle makers such as home-based Nio Inc and Xpeng Inc as well as foreign companies like U.S. automaker Tesla Inc are broadening manufacturing capacity in China where the government promotes greener vehicles to slash air pollution.
