Audi Eyes Huawei Partnership to Build China-Spec A8 Locally

Audi is in talks with Huawei to co-develop a China-specific A8 that would be manufactured locally rather than imported from Germany, according to a report by Germany's Manager Magazin.

The China-market A8 would be produced at the Audi FAW New Energy vehicle plant in Changchun, with core R&D built on Huawei's full underlying platform. The plan includes several additional models on the Huawei architecture, most notably a high-end SUV alongside the A8. The proposal is still under negotiation and has not yet been finalized.

Reviving the Changchun Plant

Audi CEO Gernot Döllner sees the partnership as a way to breathe new life into the PPE platform factory in Changchun. The first vehicles from the arrangement are targeted for production by the end of 2028. Sources say Döllner has advanced the plan without first clearing it with Audi Group headquarters in Ingolstadt, a move the magazine describes as "bold."

Meanwhile, Döllner is also pushing a controversial plan for the overseas A8 to adopt Porsche's MSB platform instead of Audi's traditional architecture, with production shifting to the Porsche Leipzig plant rather than the Neckarsulm facility that has built the A8 for 34 years.

China Sales in Freefall

The reported partnership comes as Audi faces its deepest sales crisis in China in over a decade. Industry insiders predict Audi's 2026 China sales could land just above 420,000 units — roughly a 30 percent drop from 2025 and the lowest figure since 2012.

High-margin imports such as the A8 and RS performance models have seen sales stall almost entirely. Audi's global headquarters in Ingolstadt reportedly received a sharp profit warning from Volkswagen Group's CFO in late September.

Official data shows Audi Group — including Audi, Bentley, and Lamborghini — delivered 233,000 vehicles in China during the first half of 2026, down 55,700 units or 19.3 percent year on year. Despite the decline, China remains Audi's largest single-market destination worldwide.

A Long-Brewing Partnership

Audi and Huawei have been collaborating for years. Their relationship traces back to 2017, when Audi became the first foreign automaker to participate in a LTE-V connected-vehicle public-road test in Wuxi, jointly organized with Huawei and Chinese authorities.

In 2018, the two signed a strategic cooperation memorandum in Berlin and later announced joint innovation plans for L4 autonomous driving, unveiling a Q7 prototype equipped with Huawei's MDC mobile data center at HUAWEI CONNECT 2018. By December 2018, they completed China's first real-world highway V2X test at speeds up to 80 km/h.

In April 2025, FAW Audi formally announced a strategic partnership with Huawei, becoming the first international luxury brand to adopt Huawei's combined driver-assist system. Later that August, the SAIC Audi A5L Sportback launched as what the company called the world's first fuel-powered car featuring Huawei's Qiankun intelligent driving technology, followed shortly by the FAW Audi Q6L e-tron.

Additional models expected to receive Huawei's ADAS and smart cockpit systems include the all-new Audi A6L, the A6L e-tron, and the updated Q5L.

Leadership Shake-Up

In a sign of urgency, Audi announced management changes for China effective November 1, 2026. Jeff Zhang will take over as president of Audi China, while Rolf Michl, currently managing director of Audi Sport, will relocate to China as chief operating officer. The two will jointly lead a streamlined Audi China management committee.

Audi acknowledged that the rapidly evolving Chinese market — with new competitors, accelerating technology innovation, and shifting consumer expectations — poses enormous challenges. The company's strategy appears to be leaning heavily into Chinese technological partnerships to counter the erosion of premium-brand margins by domestic EV makers' advanced smart features.