- AUDI E5 Sportback price cut by $4,370 to stir up demand.
- Total wagon deliveries reached just 7,070 units since launch.
- New brand abandons Audi’s iconic four rings in China.
When Audi decided to launch a new AUDI brand just for China, complete with no four-ring badge and a bold new design language, it looked like a confident reset. Fast forward a few months and there’s another reset, this time to the price, which has been slashed in the face of abysmal sales.
Deliveries of the E5 Sportback, AUDI’s first model under its SAIC joint venture, began in August 2025, with prices ranging from ¥235,900 to 319,900 yuan (equal to around $34,300-$46,600 at current rates). On paper, it ticked plenty of boxes and had the potential to snare Chinese buyers who are increasingly picking domestic brands over legacy Western luxury ones. But things haven’t gone according to plan.
Now Under $30,000
Total deliveries since launch have only reached 7,070 units, with just 420 cars sold in January. So AUDI has rolled out a limited-time discount, slicing ¥30,000 ($4,370) off the already low sticker, bringing the entry price down to ¥205,900, or just under $30,000, Car News China reports.
Related: Audi’s China-Only E5 EV Deserves An RS Treatment
Buyers get ¥10,000 ($1,460) in purchase tax compensation, ¥10,000 yuan in cash discount, and ¥10,000 in trade-in subsidy. Financing sweeteners include a five-year plan with zero interest, or a seven-year low-interest option if you only take the purchase tax handout.
Tough Competition
Price-wise, that puts the E5 Sportback right in the mix with the Zeekr 007 GT and slightly below the Xiaomi SU7, a car bought over 250,000 times last year. That’s strong competition in a market that does not lack for shiny new electric sedans and fastbacks.
Spec-wise, the E5 isn’t exactly junk. It has a long 2,950 mm (116.1 inches) wheelbase, up to 776 hp (787 PS / 579 kW) and 480 miles (773 km) of CLTC range, depending on the spec chosen. It also comes with LiDAR, three radars, 11 cameras, and 12 ultrasonic radars on every model, and the interior is dominated by a 59-inch, pillar-to-pillar screen.
Why Aren’t Buyers Responding?
But for some reason, the E5 Sportback just isn’t hooking Chinese drivers in. That’s despite Audi claiming last September that it had scored 10,000 pre-orders in only 30 minutes, and the model recently being named China Car of the Year. The price cut is only supposed to last until March 31, but we can imagine Audi extending it if sales don’t pick up.
Audi isn’t the only Western premium brand forced to cut prices to shore up sales in China. BMW and Mercedes have also been forced to reduce MSRPs by as much as 10 percent to compete in a market so aggressive that less than a third of dealers turned a profit last year, according to the same report.
