Audi says it has no plans to tap into the lineup of extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs) it will introduce in China for Australian showrooms, despite a push for hybrid models here – and around the world.
The premium German auto brand’s global sales boss and board member Marco Schubert told CarExpert the company is guided by local-market customer demand when it comes to rolling out powertrain technologies, including EREV models – something it has not offered anywhere else in the world despite the increasing number of EREVs being launched by Chinese automakers, including in Australia.
“We’re evaluating that technology, depending on market demand,” Mr Schubert said.
“We see the bigger demand, obviously, in China, where we have more range-extenders, and in the product range of Chinese cars [from other brands] coming here, as I learned, [coming] to Australia, also with range-extenders here.”
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“That’s the technology we are totally open for as well. We have taken some decisions for European and overseas [markets], but especially in the Chinese market we see a demand for range-extenders.”
The first of those is the Audi E7X large SUV, which is scheduled for launch in China in 2027 with the choice of battery-electric and EREV powertrains.
Stellantis-affiliated Chinese brand Leapmotor offers its C10 mid-size electric SUV with an EREV option in Australia, and it’s expected to follow suit with the smaller B10 electric SUV launched here recently.
Other Chinese brands are also considering the local release of EREV powertrains, which are essentially electric vehicles that incorporate a combustion engine solely to charge their batteries.
But that doesn’t mean Audi will transfer the tech from China, where in 2025 it also launched its own separate ‘AUDI’ brand as part of a partnership with SAIC (the owner of the MG brand, among many others), which is spelled with capital letters and devoid of the famous four-rings emblem that denotes the quartet which combined to establish the German marque.
“They’re not homologated for outside China,” said Mr Schubert when asked if Audi’s upcoming EREV lineup could be sold in other markets, including Australia.
“At the minute… we want to compete in the Chinese market. As you know, the Chinese market is crazy – they have, every day, a car launch this year, so [with] the vast amount of vehicles, it’s obviously a super-competitive market.
“We believe with our ‘AUDI’ – four letters, as we call it – that we do see the opportunity, that’s why we’ve done it. And in terms of volume aspiration, that’s in line with others.
“So, we’re building the brand there. The product has been voted as Car of the Year in China, so it was really a good achievement.
“The product has been perceived well, and we need to look at how we are going to develop it further – but it’s particularly made for the Chinese market because, again, it is the most competitive market and we want to compete there.”
Just as most of the utes sold in Australia by Japanese brands come from Thailand, several non-Chinese auto brands sell made-in-China models here including the Kia EV5, Hyundai Elexio, Mini Cooper Electric and Aceman, Cupra Tavascan, Lotus Eletre and Emeya, all Tesla and Polestar models, and almost all Volvos.
The Tavascan is the first Volkswagen Group model to be manufactured in China for Australia since a small number of Chinese-made Polo sedans were imported to Australia in the mid-1990s.
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