[ferro-alloys.com]German carmaker Audi and Chinese state-owned automotive manufacturer FAW Group have signed a memorandum of understanding to produce electric vehicles in China jointly through the establishment of a new company.

The agreement was signed Oct. 13 between the two long-standing joint venture partners at the Germany-China Automobile Conference in Changchun, northern China.

The partners are still developing the plans for the new company, but production is scheduled to start in 2024 of several all-electric Audi models for the Chinese market using the Premium Platform Electric platform jointly developed by Audi and Porsche.

Audi said the agreement allowed it to systematically follow "the path of sustainable mobility in China" and gear its "locally produced drive portfolio towards the requirements and wishes of Chinese premium customers."

The chairman of Audi's management board, Markus Duesmann, said the decision emphasized the strategic importance of the Chinese market.

"We are thus actively pushing forward with innovations locally," he said.

Audi China President Werner Eichhorn said the agreement was a further milestone in the carmaker's electrification strategy for the Chinese market.

"We are also confirming our commitment both to our longstanding Chinese partner FAW and to our activities in China, which we are now taking to a new level," he said.

Audi and FAW already jointly produce the all-electric Q2L e-tron and the plug-in hybrid A6L TFSIe, with the JV manufacturing around 700,000 vehicles a year at four locations in China.

Audi has also been producing its Audi e-tron in Changchun since the end of September and plans to generate approximately one third of its unit sales in China with electrified cars by 2025.

Audi said it delivered 512,081 vehicles to customers in China during January-September, up 4.5% year on year, despite production interruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

(S&P Global Platts)

• [Editor:王可]