Economic Observer reporter Liu Xiaolin On the evening of May 8th, in the eastern suburbs of Chengdu, a gathering place for trendy people, several moon white and creatively designed electric cars slowly strolled through the streets near the performance center. Without a familiar logo and with only a circle of rectangular headlights as a reminder, few passersby can guess the identity of this car.

At a nearby square, a large-scale exhibition event gave the answer: this is a new electric vehicle brand launched by Audi in China - AUDI's new car. That evening, the second mass-produced model under the SAIC Audi AUDI brand, the all-new intelligent performance flagship SUV AUDI E7X, announced the start of pre-sales, with a limited time pre-sale price ranging from RMB 289800 to RMB 379800.

The AUDI E7X has launched five configuration versions, including its unique "four seater flagship quattro" version, two of which are equipped with the all-new CATL 109 degree energy gathering large battery, with a CLTC range of 751 kilometers. From the perspective of configuration gradient, the five models progress layer by layer: providing high-end configurations with a total value of over 70000 yuan and limited time free upgrades, as well as various configuration upgrades with an additional budget of 30000 yuan.

As predicted by the industry, the entry-level price of this car is locked within 300000 yuan, which has become another substantial move for German luxury electric vehicles to build a new price system. From the design and configuration of dual zero gravity seats and starry sky screens, to the right to full configuration upon entry and lifetime warranty for the first owner of the vehicle, it can be seen that AUDI is building its brand according to the Chinese consumption logic.

As a pure electric sub brand in Audi's "dual brand, dual track" strategy implemented in China, whether AUDI can stand firm largely depends on whether it can form a clear distinction from traditional four ring Audi. In terms of brand positioning, AUDI highlights fashion, youthfulness, and a sense of technology, which matches this certain phase. The pre-sale conference of AUDI E7X takes trendy and cool sports as the core tone, and gathers a large number of "Shanghai Olympic Red People" on site to support, aiming to build the AUDI brand into a sports and trendy brand that fits the young group, hoping to break the stereotype of traditional luxury brands.

But more worth pondering than the price is Audi's strategy. At the press conference, SAIC Audi dubbed the AUDI E7X as the "King of New Highways" and repeatedly emphasized its "track level driving control" and "hall level tuning", conveying the "blood pumping" performance charm of the E7X. This is the strategy chosen by AUDI: In today's era where electric intelligence technology is gradually leveling off with domestic brands, AUDI injects its century old sports genes into the E7X, hoping to achieve differentiated breakthroughs through its handling advantages.

Behind this strategy is Audi's profound understanding of its own brand assets, with sports and handling performance being Audi's strengths. With the E5 Sportback opening up a new market for AUDI and Audi's high-profile investment in F1 racing projects, "track level driving control" is the most acceptable differentiation competitiveness for AUDI E7X. By combining sports genes with a new electric intelligent platform, Audi hopes to achieve a competitive effect of "1+1 greater than 2" and rapidly expand its influence among young people.

In terms of performance configuration, the AUDI E7X is equipped with front and rear all aluminum chassis, and the entire series comes standard with rear wheel steering system. Combined with the newly upgraded quattro full-time intelligent four-wheel drive system, it can achieve a 0-100 km/h acceleration performance in 3.9 seconds. Xie Shiqi, Vice General Manager of Marketing at SAIC Audi, explicitly stated that "handling expertise" is a value that Audi will continue to uphold in the era of electric vehicles.

While maintaining the bottom line of driving control, the E7X is completely based on the Chinese solution in terms of intelligence, equipped with the Audi panoramic assisted driving system jointly developed by Audi and Momenta, and equipped with 28 high-precision sensors to build a global environmental perception system. Momenta founder and CEO Cao Xudong stated on site that the Audi E7X will be equipped with L3 autonomous driving in the future, becoming Audi's first model to apply this technology and also Momenta's first L3 autonomous driving model.

This may be Audi's most exciting press conference in the past two years, featuring not only new cars and technology, but also values. Xie Shiqi, Vice General Manager of Marketing at SAIC Audi, made a "hardcore shout" at the press conference, criticizing the practice of "special tuned car running speed": "The tires have been replaced, the suspension has been modified, and the software is written separately to make a miraculous modified racing version... What does this have to do with the user? Can the car in your warehouse achieve this result? Can the car you deliver to the user have this experience?" At the same time, he loudly conveyed the viewpoint that "parameters can refresh the screen overnight, but the feel can only be developed for a hundred years".

With the support of two new products, AUDI has gained confidence in building its own luxury values and actively strives for a voice in this field. For users, having a new option backed by traditional brands is a good thing. For the already heated Chinese luxury electric vehicle market, with the entry of joint venture new brands and personalized models, more long tail effects may emerge.

In terms of price, electric vehicles priced over 250000 yuan are all competitors of AUDI E7X. Popular models such as Tesla Model Y, Xiaomi YU7, Ideal i6, and Wenjie M7 are its direct competitors. In the 300000 level pure electric SUV market, these models have established their own economies of scale and differentiation advantages. The arrival of Audi E7X will provide a different option from domestic brands for the 300000 yuan pure electric SUV market.

As a brand new luxury brand, AUDI's pricing is not based on "brand premium". Its pricing model is not only "following local customs", which conforms to the current "competitive pricing" model in the Chinese market, but also attempts to "price by value". Of course, the ultimate competitiveness will depend on whether the differentiation of AUDI can gain recognition from China's young consumer group. Compared with Tesla's strategy of showcasing minimalist technology, Xiaomi's strategy of capturing the market with cost-effectiveness, and Audi's strategy of targeting users with ideal home scenarios, AUDI hopes to continue Audi's glory as the "driver's car" in the era of fuel vehicles with "driving performance", which may pose a threat to the local luxury car nouveau riche camp and promote further diversification and subdivision of the luxury new energy vehicle track.