Audi opens Shanghai R&D centre for its new China brand

Audi is expanding its development footprint in China with a new technology centre in Shanghai. Developed together with SAIC, the AUDI Innovation & Technology Center (AITC) is intended to become the central engineering hub for the China-specific AUDI brand. Around 300 employees will work there on new vehicles from initial concept through to production readiness.

The move marks the next stage of Audi’s China strategy. After creating AUDI specifically for the Chinese market, the company is bringing more development work closer to local customers and technology partners. The shift reflects pressure from Chinese manufacturers, which are shortening product cycles and adapting software features rapidly to local expectations. Chinese OEMs are increasingly setting the pace in digital vehicle development, raising the bar for established global carmakers.

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What will Audi develop in Shanghai?

Driver assistance, artificial intelligence and digital user experiences will form the core of the AITC’s work. Audi plans functions for multimodal interaction, agent-based assistance and personalised in-car features for Chinese customers. The centre will also develop the next generation of the Advanced Digitized Platform (ADP), which is intended to underpin future AUDI models.

Audi also wants to connect the centre closely with China’s technology ecosystem. The AITC is working with a leading Chinese AI and cloud platform and is examining how AI models can be integrated into the vehicle architecture at an early stage. That approach could allow software, computing and customer-facing functions to be considered together earlier in the development process.

Why is Audi moving development closer to China?

The decision is part of a broader change in how Audi approaches the market. The first model from the new brand, the AUDI E5 Sportback, already used a platform developed specifically for China together with local technology partners. The aim was to shorten development cycles and bring market-specific functions into vehicles more quickly.

Audi CEO Gernot Döllner describes China as a key market and one of the automotive industry’s most dynamic innovation centres. “Anyone who wants to succeed here has to develop close to the customer and translate new technologies quickly into compelling products,” he says.

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Fred Schulze, CEO of the Audi-SAIC cooperation and former head of Audi’s Neckarsulm plant, also stresses the importance of local engineering structures. “AUDI was developed specifically for Chinese customers. With the new technology centre, we can translate their expectations even more consistently into our products – from the initial idea through software and driver assistance to continuous digital updates.”

The AITC also builds on the expanding Audi-SAIC development partnership in China, which increasingly covers technologies and vehicle programmes tailored to the local market.

How are global carmakers reorganising R&D in China?

Audi is following a wider industry trend. International manufacturers are increasingly locating development, software integration and digital services closer to the markets in which vehicles are sold. Volkswagen has similarly expanded end-to-end development capability in China, combining software, hardware and vehicle validation in a local engineering hub.

For AUDI, shorter decision paths and local technology partnerships are intended to support a market where software, AI and digital experiences have become major competitive factors. The Shanghai centre is therefore more than an additional R&D site: it is part of an effort to make product development more responsive to China’s faster innovation cycles.

Can the new AUDI brand turn technology into sales?

The centre also matters for the commercial development of the young China brand. The AUDI E5 Sportback entered the market at the end of 2025, followed in 2026 by the fully electric AUDI E7X SUV. A third model, a saloon, is planned for 2027.

Commercial momentum has so far been mixed. The initially promising demand for the E5 Sportback did not translate into sustained sales volumes. The E7X has developed more strongly: according to Audi, the SUV reached 10,000 sales within its first 100 days on the market.

Whether that becomes a sustainable growth story will depend partly on how quickly Audi can turn local engineering into products that resonate with Chinese customers. The AITC is designed to shorten development cycles, deepen links with the local technology ecosystem and bring software, AI and digital functions closer to local customer requirements.