AUDI’s China Shift: Premium Meets Playful

Same brand, new playbook. As legacy OEMs navigate China’s fast-moving EV landscape, Audi is testing a fresh strategy: go local, stay premium – and rewrite the rules without losing the core.

In this week’s edition, I sit down with Pirmin Reimeir, Lead Product Manager at the SAIC-Audi joint venture, to explore how the four-letter version of Audi is taking shape in China. From curved OLED avatars to WeChat-driven development cycles, this isn’t your standard German playbook – it’s Audi adapted for a younger, tech-first generation.

Meanwhile, performance still matters. And so does brand heritage. The trick? Mixing China-speed software with Ingolstadt’s engineering DNA, without getting lost in translation.

Because in today’s hyper-competitive EV market, the question isn’t whether you can build a car – it’s whether you can build relevance.

Let’s dive in.

Sebastian

Inside AUDI’s China Pivot: Bold, Local, Electric

When I spoke with Pirmin Reimeir, Lead Product Manager at the SAIC-Audi cooperation project, it became immediately clear how deeply Audi is rethinking its approach to the Chinese EV market. Pirmin is based in Shanghai and part of a small, agile team developing a new electric-only brand under the iconic name "AUDI" - this time written in four capital letters rather than with four rings.

At first glance, that might sound like a branding curiosity. But the deeper strategy behind this move is bold: Audi is positioning itself to meet the needs of a younger, tech-savvy generation in China, without diluting the core values of German engineering. “We’re still all about Vorsprung durch Technik,” Pirmin explained. “But now we get to experiment more - with features, interfaces, and even design languages that speak directly to a different customer.”