Audi Is Taking Legal Action Against AUDI and Yes, That Sentence Is Correct

Yes, Audi is going after AUDI, and no, I haven’t mistyped anything. It’s the strangest brand naming mess I’ve come across in a while, so let me untangle it first.

Audi, the brand with the four rings, sells cars all over the world. AUDI, spelled in four capital letters with no rings anywhere, is a sister brand built exclusively for China by Audi and its partner SAIC. It covers a separate range of electric cars designed around Chinese customers and the country’s digital ecosystem, and the two models at the centre of this story, the E5 Sportback and E7X, look completely different from anything in Audi’s global lineup.

Audi Has Gone After a German Importer Called Auto China

Auto China is the German importer that sourced the E5 Sportback and E7X from China, homologated them for European roads and offered them to local customers. According to Motor1, an Audi spokesperson told Automobilwoche that the company has started legal proceedings against the importer and will “rigorously enforce our rights.”

Auto China’s listings surfaced in August. Around the end of that month, the German car magazine Auto Motor und Sport (AMS) reported that Audi Germany was looking into legal steps and had ruled out selling these cars officially in Germany itself. Since then both cars have disappeared from the importer’s website, although a spokesperson wouldn’t tell Automobilwoche whether Audi’s pressure was the reason. Other Chinese brands, including Xiaomi and Zeekr, are still listed. Some of the early chatter made it sound like Audi is suing private buyers or pushing for a blanket ban. From what’s been reported, the target is the importer, and no ban has been announced.

Audi and SAIC Built AUDI for China and Never Planned to Sell It Here

Audi and SAIC developed the brand on a shared platform called the Advanced Digitized Platform, and the E5 Sportback was the first production model, reaching Chinese buyers in August 2025. It produces up to 579 kW (787 PS), sprints from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.4 seconds and was named China’s 2026 Car of the Year. The E7X followed as a big electric SUV that’s 5,049 mm long with a 3,060 mm wheelbase, with system power between 300 kW (408 PS) and 500 kW (680 PS) across five trims and a 109 kWh battery in the top version.

The whole project exists because Volkswagen Group’s traditional strengths in China have faded as buyers moved to EVs, a problem I broke down in Volkswagen’s China deliveries decline and future plan. Audi’s answer is a second brand with its own cars, and I covered how it compares with the moves by BMW, Mercedes and Volkswagen in my look at how European carmakers are fighting back in China. A third AUDI model is planned for 2027, with four more on the next generation of the platform.

The Price Gap Is What Makes This So Awkward for Audi

Auto China asks €59,980 for the E5 Sportback and €72,900 for the E7X, both in Flagship trim according to AMS.

Several reports say German buyers pay more than double the Chinese price, but that compares a base car in China with a Flagship car in Germany. AMS puts the Chinese Flagship E5 Sportback at around €36,000, so the real premium is smaller. It’s still substantial, but the cars look cheap next to Audi’s own range, since the S6 e-tron Sportback starts at €99,500 according to the German magazine Auto Bild.

Audi Says It Can’t Support Cars It Never Sold Officially

Audi, of course, wants to protect its dealer network and its European range, so its argument goes beyond the fact that these cars were meant for China. The company says they weren’t exported through any distribution channel authorised by Audi AG, and that its dealers outside China can’t service them because AUDI models aren’t treated as Audi vehicles anywhere else.

Both cars lean heavily on software, connected services, sensors and driver assistance systems developed around the Chinese market, so parts, diagnostics, updates and repairs are practically impossible to get through Audi outside China. Auto China says it handles sourcing, homologation, registration, warranty and service itself, which is a fair promise, but it also means one importer stands in for the manufacturer for the whole life of the car.

This isn’t the first time a Volkswagen Group brand has gone after parallel imports from China. Carscoops points out that in 2023 Volkswagen took a German importer to court over 20 Chinese market ID.6 models, and after a drawn out process the importer was ordered to destroy all of them. I guess the E5 and E7X are in for a similar fate.

Featured Image: AUDI