Audi Launches New Letter-Badge Brand; E5 Sportback Sales Rebound, Wins Car of the Year

In November 2024, Audi partnered with SAIC Motor to launch a new brand named “AUDI,” replacing the traditional four-ring logo with lettering. The brand’s first model, the E5 Sportback, went on sale in September 2025 with a starting price of RMB 235,900; its second model, the E7X, launched in May 2026 at a starting price of RMB 269,800. Initial sales of the E5 Sportback were sluggish, with monthly deliveries totaling around 400 units in January 2026 and cumulative deliveries reaching approximately 7,000 units. To boost demand, SAIC Audi reduced the entry-level variant’s price by RMB 30,000. Sales rebounded from March 2026 onward, climbing to 2,630 units that month. The E5 Sportback subsequently ranked among the top three in China’s RMB 200,000–300,000 all-electric midsize sedan segment and was awarded “2026 China Car of the Year.” SAIC Audi achieved full-year retail sales of 47,258 units in 2025, up 23% year-over-year, marking its third consecutive year of record-breaking sales. Audi stated that the letter-badge strategy had been in development for nearly three years, aiming to target diverse customer segments through differentiated positioning while emphasizing that the new brand shares the same core values as its four-ring-badged counterparts. Although the “AUDI” lettering is not entirely new—having been used by Audi in overseas markets a century ago—it had never previously been introduced in China.