(Yicai Global) Oct. 13 -- FAW Group and Audi are to form a joint venture to produce electric vehicles in China using the German auto manufacturer’s Premium Platform Electric architecture, the Chinese carmaker said today.

All-electric Audi vehicles are to be produced for the Chinese market on the new PPE platform from 2024, the Changchun, northeastern Jilin province-based firm said.

Jointly developed with Audi's sister company Porsche, the PPE platform will be used to build medium-sized cars, such as sedans, station wagons and sport utility vehicles, it added, without disclosing the investment amounts.

“This is a further milestone in our electrification strategy for the Chinese market,” said Werner Eichhorn, president of Audi China on the firm’s website. “We are also confirming our commitment both to our longstanding Chinese partner FAW and to our activities in China, which we are now taking to a new level.”

A new company called FAW-Audi Sales was registered at the end of last year, indicating that sales from the new JV might operate independently of the JV with Audi’s parent firm Volkswagen, FAW-Volkwagen, through which Audi’s China sales are currently handled.

Audi sales in China rose by 4.5 percent in the first three quarters from a year earlier to 512,000 units, the marque’s best results since it entered the country 32 years ago despite the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Sales of its China-made cars were up 7 percent over the same period to 477,500 units, accounting for 93.2 percent of all sales in the country.

Editor: Kim Taylor