Another forbidden Audi detailed!

Audi has revealed its next electric SUV, dubbed the E7X, but it’s not Audi as we know it.

Instead, the E7X comes from the German luxury brand’s tie-up with MG owner SAIC in China.

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What sets the AUDI models apart from their four-ringed counterparts is their use of SAIC platforms. For example the E5 and E7X share their underpinnings with models from the Chinese brand’s IM arm, which are sold in Australia badged as MGs.

At over five-meters long, the E7X is even larger than the German brand’s Q8 e-tron, and it features an over-three-meter long wheelbase, suggesting generous interior dimensions. 

Two versions have been announced, a rear-wheel drive version which produces 300kW/500Nm and an all-wheel drive version which adds a 200kW motor on the front axle, and produces a total torque of 800Nm. Its battery capacity and driving range are yet to be revealed.

Like other Chinese domestic market models, the E7X features a detailed LED light feature in the front, an illuminated logo, and similar light detailing for its rear lights. It offers enormous wheels in either 21- or 22-inch sizes, as well as trendy flush doorhandles, and a LiDAR pod on its roof. 

Interior images are yet to be revealed, although the car will likely follow in the footsteps of the E5 before it and look unrecognisable from Audi’s international range.

The E5, for example, features a dash-spanning array of screens with Chinese-market specific software, a minimalist centre console and stripped-back steering wheel design. Like the E5, the E7X also features the option to have camera-based wing mirrors, which expand on the already massive screen real-estate on the interior.

The Audi E7X is set to be fully revealed at the Beijing Motor Show in April and will go on sale in China shortly afterward.

Audi’s SAIC joint-venture is regarded as a success in China, with the E5 amassing over 10,000 pre-orders as soon as it went on sale.

While the E5 may remain a Chinese domestic market option, the E7X nameplate has been registered in Europe, suggesting Audi is considering overseas markets for the JV models.

This comes with the backdrop of Audi’s Volkswagen parent company lobbying the European Union to relax tariff structures so it can bring Chinese-built models to Europe.

The EU introduced tariffs in 2024 in order to protect domestic automakers from a torrent of lower-cost Chinese vehicles which it claimed at the time were unfairly subsidised by the Chinese government.

According to industry source, Automotive News, VW Group is hoping the EU will grant it an exemption from what is currently a 20.7 per cent tariff.

Volkswagen, which has been active in joint ventures in China for longer than most global car companies, gambled on new global models in China prior to the EU’s tariffs being introduced.

For example, the Cupra Tavascan (which is built in a joint-venture with JAC and rides on the same MEB platform as the ID.4) is built in Anhui province with the original plan to sell it in Europe and abroad.

If VW Group can secure an exemption to these rules, it opens up the opportunity for it to export more Chinese-built models, like the E7X and the upcoming large three-row Volkswagen based on the ID. Era concept which was revealed earlier in 2025.