Here’s an AUDI E5 Sportback, parked alongside the road in southern Beijing in the spring of 2026. The high-tech electric car was brand new, painted in Morning Dawn Purple. It packs a 525 hp powertrain and an 83 kWh battery.
AUDI, in capitals, is a new automotive brand for the Chinese car market. It is aimed at a young audience. The owner of AUDI is the SAIC-Audi joint venture, itself part of the larger SAIC-VW joint venture.
AUDI has separate marketing, social media channels, and experience stores. However, AUDI uses the existing SAIC-Audi dealer network for distribution.
AUDI’s cars are based on SAIC platforms, and feature SAIC’s interior technology. The whole AUDI brand is therefore a prime example of a “reverse joint venture“.
The AUDI E5 Sportback
The AUDI E5 Sportback was the first car of the AUDI brand, launched in September 2025. It is based on the IM L6. Both cars share the same platform, motors, battery, and electronics. IM is a brand under SAIC. The car in the photos is the mid-range “AUDI E5 Sportback quattro” model.
The E5 Sportback is classified as a shooting brake, with a short, low hood, a long, sloping roofline, and extra-wide fenders. Proportionally, it looks a little odd. But it sure doesn’t look like an Audi! The shape works well for aerodynamics; it has a 0.252 Cd drag coefficient, which is pretty good for such a large vehicle.
AUDI designed these pretty 8-spoke wheels exclusively for the E5 Sportback. The tire size is 245/45 R19 at the front and 275/40 R19 at the rear.
ADAS
The AUDI E5 Sportback has camera mirrors as standard. The L2 ADAS is way more advanced than in any Audi. That’s because it is a Chinese system, developed by Momenta, one of China’s largest ADAS companies. It features 11 cameras, 12 ultrasonic radarsm 3 millimeter-wave radars, and a lidar. Computing power comes from an Nvidia Drive Orin-X chip with 254 TOPS.
The interior
Chinese consumers like airy, spacious interiors with light colors and large screens. Audi cars have German interiors: dark, cramped, low on tech. The AUDI’s interior is, as you can see, tailored for China.
AUDI made one little mistake here: fitting Audi neck pillows with the four-ring logo, which AUDI doesn’t use. Spending so much money to create a weird new brand, and screwing up with a neck pillow.
There’s a tissue box behind the cup holders, and another one in the storage bin below the center tunnel. The design is great; I especially like the wood-like structure on the door panel, and the steering wheel is a beauty too. The screen may look like a one-piece, but it is divided into two parts: a 12.3-inch instrument panel and a 27-inch infotainment system.
The black thingy in the middle of the dashboard is the new “AUDI Assistant”, a spacey AI assistant that runs on software from the Chinese AI companies iFlytek and ByteDance Vulcano Engine. The system can talk with four passengers simultaneously. It has an encyclopedia of knowledge that constantly expands via OTA updates.
Lots of space in the back. Other standard equipment includes a 50W wireless charger, a 12-speaker Bose audio system, a 30-color ambient lighting system, and a large panoramic sunroof.
Specifications of the AUDI E5 Sportback
The AUDI E5 Sportback quattro is a dual-motor all-wheel drive car. The total output is 386 kW (525 hp) and 725 Nm. That’s divided into 155 kW/250 Nm at the front and 231 kW/475 Nm at the rear. AUDI claims a 205 km/h top speed and 0-100 in 3.9 seconds.
That’s a tiny rear window!
The CATL NMC battery has an 83 kWh capacity, the energy consumption is 15.2 kWh per 100 kilometers, and that makes for a 623-kilometer CLTC range. Not 620 km or 625 km, nope, 623 it is. It has 400V architecture, so charging isn’t very fast: 10-80% in 35 minutes. 400V is pretty old-school for this segment. However. the range-topping models do have 800V.
Price in China
The AUDI E5 Sportback quattro costs 239.900 yuan or $35K. That is, as always, a super good deal for a large luxury car with so much power. But this being China, the competition is fierce and comes from all corners. So far, sales haven’t been great. In most months, AUDI sells fewer than 500 units. In May, AUDI launched its second model, the E7X SUV, which sells about 400 units per month.
Well, if Chinese consumers can choose between a Chinese car and a German car based on a Chinese car, they may as well go for the Chinese car, right?