Audi Innovation Technology Center Unveiled, Feng Siyuan Says Brand Will Maintain 24-Month Minimum Development Threshold

On November 5, the Audi Innovation Technology Center was officially unveiled. Feng Siyuan, General Manager of the Audi Innovation Technology Center, said during a media exchange session that when he first entered the industry, the complete development cycle for a new Audi model was 56 months, while the development time for recently launched models has been compressed to around 30 months. Feng Siyuan stated that Audi will hold the line at a minimum development threshold of 24 months and will not further compress the validation cycle, as it is impossible to complete the full development of a new car in a shorter period. Prior to this, several executives from XPeng, Chery, SAIC-GM, and the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center had already shared their views on this topic. He Xiaopeng regards safety and high quality as the bottom line for carmaking, Li Xueyong emphasized that automobiles are not fast-moving consumer goods, and Xue Haitao and Zeng Yu stated their refusal to build hastily developed vehicles. Data from the China Automobile Dealers Association shows that a total of 165 new models were launched in the first half of 2026, with the recall scale of self-owned brands rising 681% year-on-year. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology plans to raise the reliability testing mileage for new energy vehicles to 30,000 kilometers, while simultaneously conducting on-site supervision of automakers and implementing mandatory safety standards related to power batteries.