Shared success, integrated future: China FAW and Audi AG co-author a new chapter of 'China-crafted intelligence' in the AI era

With the arrival of 2025, the digital-intelligent "battle" initiated by Chinese automotive brands has reached a pivotal phase. China's automotive industry has achieved a historic leap - transitioning from "trading market access for technology" to "defining global standards through technology." Against this backdrop, the question of how joint ventures, a longstanding pillar of China's automotive sector, can sustain their legacy of high-quality development has emerged as a critical focal point for the industry.

Photo shows the Audi-FAW NEV production base in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province. (Photo provided to People's Daily Online)

Propelled by the era's urgent call for answers, we embarked on a quest to Changchun, hailed as the "cradle of New China's modern automotive industry," to chart new pathways for collaborative ascent among joint venture brands. This city not only birthed the nation's first independently produced automobile, but also nurtured its first homegrown international luxury automotive brand. Here, we sought insights that might illuminate a path forward for this new era.

Genesis of a legend: China FAW and Audi AG's 37-year journey of high-quality growth

On May 17, 1988, China FAW and Audi AG signed China's first luxury vehicle technology transfer agreement in Changchun - a landmark moment in the nation's automotive history. Numerous blueprints and technical documents were transported from Audi AG's headquarters in Ingolstadt, Germany, to Changchun. With the launch of the first Audi 100, the city pioneered China's domestic luxury automotive sector, democratizing access to premium vehicles for millions. Building on this foundation, FAW and Audi keenly understood Chinese consumers' demand for spacious interiors. In 1999, the A6 (C5) debuted as the first long-wheelbase luxury sedan in China, achieving resounding success. To this day, the "L" designation remains one of the market's cornerstone selling points.

(Photo provided to People's Daily Online)

This year, FAW Audi's cumulative sales in China are about to exceed the 10-million vehicle milestone. The joint venture now operates eight major facilities nationwide, including three R&D and testing hubs, four production bases, and a marketing center located in the "Digital City" of Hangzhou. Together, these operations have created nearly 500,000 full-chain employment opportunities and achieved a cumulative tax payment of over 700 billion yuan (over $96.67 billion) within the entire system. It can be said that the strategic cooperation between China FAW and Audi AG has revealed the key to the success of joint ventures in the past: the creation of a "Chinese model" ​that fosters deep integration between local ecology and multinational automakers.

A new paradigm in partnership: The Sino-German intelligent manufacturing consortium reinvents collaboration

Today, with the new landscape brought about by industrial technology upgrades, Audi AG and China FAW have leveraged their decades of synergistic collaboration and unparalleled understanding of the Chinese market and users to complete construction of their first premium NEV production base in Changchun within just three years. This accelerates the localization of the PPE platform (Premium Platform Electric – Audi's premium EV platform co-developed with Porsche) in China, meeting Chinese users' higher demands for intelligence and electrification with a new model of "German quality manufacturing + Chinese intelligent manufacturing."

(Photo provided to People's Daily Online)

This global factory, jointly invested in by Audi and FAW at a cost of over 20 billion yuan, will produce the Audi Q6L e-tron and a China-specific Audi A6L e-tron, which comprises deeply integrated localized R&D tailored to Chinese users' actual needs. In parallel, it collaborates with Huawei to create a high-end intelligent driving system, endowing the legendary quattro technology, which has dominated tracks and urban roads for 45 years, with the most advanced digital mindset.