Audi AG, a luxury arm of German automaker Volkswagen AG, will launch at least two new models in the Chinese market next year.
Audi China chief Kevin McCann said the planned models are the Audi TT Coupe and All-Road Quattro.
The announcement came on the eve of the Shanghai International Motor Show, which opens today.
"The plan is in an effort to improve our product portfolio on the high-end car market in China after the nation's entry into the World Trade Organization," McCann said.
Analysts predicted competition will significantly increase on the high-end car market as China cuts tariffs on auto imports to 25 percent by 2006 from a high of 80 percent now.
Audi sold 27,300 sedans in the first 11 months of 2001, up from 18,000 units during the same period in 2000.
China is now Audi's largest market in Asia, he said.
Audi will display its TT Coupe, All-Road Quattro, A4 Cabriolet and the 6-litre A8 and A6 during the seven-day show.
He said the company's exports to China rose 128 percent to 1,700 sedans year-on-year for the first 11 months of 2001, he said. That accounts for the Audi A8 and A4 models.
FAW Volkswagen, a Changchun-based joint venture between China First Automotive Works and Volkswagen AG, has sold about 25,700 domestic-made Audi A6s this year.
(China Daily December 10, 2001)
