Volkswagen luxury car unit Audi, which has a long-standing automaking joint venture in China, at the weekend announced a new electric vehicle partnership with Tongji University.
“Audi has been represented in the Chinese market for 22 years now, and with great success. China is an important driver for electromobility. That is why we are investing locally, with the Audi Tongji Joint Lab, in research and education,” said Audi chairman Rupert Stadler.
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Audi has been cooperating with Tongji University Shanghai since January. Students at TUS work together with the car manufacturer on various technical projects as part of their coursework for a bachelor’s or master’s degree or doctorate. An annual student exchange programme will also be conducted. The first project is the joint development of an electric version of the locally-made Audi A6L (a long wheelbase version developed specially for the Chinese chauffeur-drive market).
“Together with our long-time partner, Audi, we want to continue to shape China’s automotive industry. Electromobility plays a major role here,” said An Tiecheng, president of FAW-Volkswagen.
FAW-Audi produces the A4L, A6L and Q5 in Changchun. Between January and September 2010, it delivered about 175,000 cars to Chinese customers, claiming to lead the premium segment.
