SAIC Volkswagen to Launch "Seven Arrows" in 2026, Opening a New Chapter of "Volkswagen Is More Outstanding"

As the Chinese automotive market gradually returns to rationality amidst the clamor, 2025 will be a critical watershed year for testing the strategic resolve of automakers.

In 2025, SAIC Volkswagen achieved total terminal sales of 1.06 million vehicles, with the Volkswagen brand alone exceeding one million units, retaining its title as the top-selling single brand among joint ventures. Its market share in the gasoline vehicle market bucked the trend, rising by over 8%. SAIC Audi brand sales reached 47,258 units, a year-on-year increase of 23%, continuously breaking historical records for the third consecutive year.

Numbers are just the surface. Behind this report card lies a profound self-revolution for SAIC Volkswagen, from products and technology to systems and philosophy. By firmly adhering to the "Oil and Electric Advance Together, Oil and Electric Intelligent Together" strategy, SAIC Volkswagen has not only defended its base and broken through the joint venture dilemma, but has also set an industry benchmark.

Looking ahead to 2026, this established joint venture giant will announce to the market its true transformation with 7 new energy vehicles and a new value system for its dual brands, declaring that true transformation is never about overthrowing the past, but about evolving the future.

"Electrified and ICE models on equal footing, intelligent technologies across both" to break the joint venture development dilemma.

Looking back on 2025, SAIC Volkswagen's keyword is "Implementation." Under the strategic tone of "Simultaneous Advancement in ICE and EV, Shared Intelligence in ICE and EV," the value of internal combustion engine vehicles was redefined, and a position was secured in the new energy vehicle race.

In terms of "advancing both gasoline and electric," SAIC Volkswagen remains deeply committed to the internal combustion engine segment, equipping the Teramont Pro with the "engine king" fifth-generation EA888 engine. They have also conducted in-depth development of the EA211 engine, implementing Miller cycle and even deep Miller cycle technology, providing a "golden super hybrid system" for subsequent hybrid and extended-range products.

In terms of "intelligent integration of fuel and electric vehicles," traditional gasoline cars are becoming another major arena for intelligence. First, looking at the Volkswagen brand, the Pro family has completed a comprehensive intelligent upgrade. In March 2025, the Teramont Pro, featuring the "king" of engines, the fifth-generation EA888, made its debut, kicking off the full evolution of SAIC Volkswagen's Pro family. In September, the 2026 models of the Pro family, consisting of the Passat Pro, Tiguan L Pro, and Teramont Pro, were collectively launched. With a "golden value triangle" comprising "manufacturer quality + mechanical prowess + intelligent performance," they completely bridged the generational gap in intelligent experience between gasoline and new energy vehicles. In November, as the Lavida Pro redefined the benchmark for A+ segment family sedans, the market clearly saw that SAIC Volkswagen does not view gasoline cars as a "burden," but rather as an important vehicle for widespread intelligent adoption.

Secondly, there's the Audi brand. The all-new SAIC Audi A5L Sportback, launched in August, broke through the technical barriers of distributed domain control and fuel car assisted driving, shattering the industry perception that "intelligent driving is exclusive to electric vehicles." It became the world's first fuel car equipped with Huawei Qiankun technology. For the Audi E5 Sportback, SAIC Audi partnered with Momenta to launch the industry's first "German Driving DNA + End-to-End Flying Wheel Large Model" solution, pioneering the concept of "assisted driving," ensuring that the vehicle continues to provide pure Audi driving quality while offering safe and convenient assisted driving functions. In December, the Audi E5 Sportback received its first OTA update, adding more than ten new features and optimizing over 200 user experiences.

Audi: From "Breaking the Mold and Setting the Standard" to "The Full Family Charge"

2025 also marks the year when SAIC Audi's dual-brand operation comes to fruition. As a luxury electric brand globally launched by Audi, AUDI will integrate Audi's advantages in high-end product definition, design concepts, R&D, and engineering technology with SAIC's leading innovative technologies and ecosystem. Together in beauty, it will set a new benchmark for Sino-German joint venture cooperation.

In 2025, the Audi E5 Sportback achieved cumulative sales of 6,650 units, with monthly sales consistently maintaining steady month-over-month growth, demonstrating a healthy and resilient brand development momentum. Its successful breakthrough also proves that the luxury electric vehicle market is not limited to the "feature-rich" (or "spec-heavy") approach.

Users consistently praise it with the saying: "Attracted by its appearance, delighted by its intelligence, and enduringly fond of its driving control." Blending Audi's century-old luxury heritage with forward-looking Chinese local technology, the Audi E5 Sportback has successively won authoritative honors such as "China Car of the Year" and "2025 Weibo Car of the Year."

From the launch of the E5 Sportback to the global debut of the AUDI E SUV concept car at the Guangzhou Auto Show, and then to the unveiling of the exterior design of the second model, the Audi E7X, in December, the AUDI brand has completed the outline of its product matrix at an astonishing pace.

At the 2026 Beijing Auto Show, the Audi E7X will be officially unveiled and launched, marking Audi's establishment of an independent electric vehicle lineup in China covering sedans, SUVs, and Sportback models.

Systematic renovation to solidify underlying capabilities for the joint venture 2.0 strategy.

While the outside world focuses on SAIC Volkswagen's projected sales of 1.06 million vehicles in 2025, the fifth-generation EA888 "Engine King" in the Teramont Pro, or the Audi E5 Sportback, a more profound transformation is taking place within SAIC Volkswagen.

First, the organizational structure is refreshed with "agility" as the guiding principle: introducing an integrated product marketing process, establishing a dedicated GTM (Go-to-Market) organization, and implementing a "one product, one team" model to break down departmental barriers between R&D, production, and marketing. Simultaneously, IPD (Integrated Product Development) and IPMS (Integrated Portfolio Management System) processes are introduced to deeply integrate Chinese user needs and market environment into the product definition phase, shifting the decision chain from functional silos to a user-value closed loop, and focusing resource allocation from fragmentation to precision.

Next is the service system refresh. 2025 is SAIC Volkswagen's "Service Quality Year," with digitalization and AI becoming the core engine for experience enhancement. Online, it relies on digital tools to cover the entire cycle of selection, usage, and maintenance, while offline, it empowers store terminals with digital badges, optimizing key touchpoints such as product introductions, test drives, and deliveries. The "one customer, one group" operation mode refines service granularity to the individual, with the OEM and dealers collaborating to respond to user needs. In October, the CACSI evaluation results were announced, and the SAIC Volkswagen brand swept the top two awards for sales service and after-sales service satisfaction among joint venture brands. The brand perception of "progressive, reliable, and caring" has been transformed from a slogan into quantifiable experience assets.

Third is channel construction. Revolving around customer experience, SAIC Volkswagen is building an omni-channel service matrix, introducing large language models to gain real-time insights into customer needs, and deepening the integration of smart showrooms and online touchpoints. A multi-dimensional "network health" evaluation system is being implemented, covering indicators such as sales volume, market share, and profitability, with targeted empowerment for dealers based on their weaknesses. No inventory pressure, stable prices, and a return to the essence of business – these anti-involution measures pave the way for the intensive launch of new energy vehicles in 2026. These measures have also achieved remarkable results: in 2025, the Volkswagen brand added over 100 new dealerships, and the Audi brand built over 200 full-function customer centers in over 100 cities, transforming the channel ecosystem from scale expansion to value co-creation.

Seven new energy vehicles, "Volkswagen will be outstanding" in 2026, a full-scale offensive.

If 2025 is the prelude to laying the groundwork for strategy, then 2026 will be a pivotal year in SAIC Volkswagen's 40-plus year history, characterized by the highest product density, the greatest technological span, and the most thorough brand revitalization.

From Q2 2026 onwards, SAIC Volkswagen will enter a rapid product launch cycle. The two brands are expected to launch a total of 7 new energy vehicles, fully covering the three technological routes of pure electric, plug-in hybrid, and extended-range.

Among them, the first mass-produced vehicle in the Volkswagen brand's ID. ERA series, the ID.ERA 9X, is about to roll off the production line. This model, positioned as a "German flagship SUV with full-level capabilities," is not only Volkswagen's first global 9-series model, but also carries the technological mission of solving industry range anxiety with its "Golden Range-Extender System." Recently, the ID.ERA 9X completed winter testing in Heihe, demonstrating superior R&D capabilities under the "In China, for China" strategy through extreme condition validations such as split-mu braking, snow steady-state turning, and snow high-speed tire blowout.

Regarding the AUDI brand, the Audi E7X will make its global debut at the 2026 Beijing Auto Show and is scheduled to officially launch in the first half of the year. With the launch of the second mass-produced model, the AUDI brand will initially form a family-based product line covering different market segments.

At the corporate level, SAIC Volkswagen's keyword for 2026 is "Volkswagen, More Outstanding." The Volkswagen brand will communicate with users with a new value system of "Progressive, Reliable, and Considerate," and upgrade digital services across the entire "selection, usage, and maintenance" lifecycle. SAIC Audi, on the other hand, anchors its brand perception with "Young, Technological, and Luxurious," and continues to strengthen the differentiated perception of the AUDI brand as "German Genes + Chinese Wisdom," redefining the connotation of "Luxury" in the electric era.