Volkswagen’s premium brand Audi said on Monday it would strengthen its partnership with China’s SAIC to develop a new electric vehicle platform, a move that would enable the German automaker to reduce time-to-market by over 30% in the Chinese market. The first models built upon the so-called Advanced Digitized Platform will cover the B-class and C-class vehicle segments and hit the market in 2025, according to a statement. SAIC, a state-owned manufacturing partner of Volkswagen and General Motors in China, in July announced a deal with Audi to license EV technologies under its IM Motors luxury lineup. Volkswagen has been working with Xpeng Motors in a similar effort for its namesake mainstream brand. [Reuters, SAIC statement, in Chinese]
