AUDI E 5 Sportback

FIRST DRIVE In a bid to counter falling sales in China, Audi has teamed up with SAIC, and this sleek estate is the pair's first car

- Thomas Geiger

IT'S been a while since we've driven something that's caused as much of a stir on the road as the new AUDI E5 Sportback. The roads in question are around Beijing, China, and it's a good job the locals are paying attention, because this AUDI is being exclusively sold in their country.

Before we get into the car itself, let's talk about the new AUDI brand. The capital letters are not some marketing blunder that's thrown the German firm's 117-year history out the window. AUDI wants to be different from the European arm; in fact, it has to be. Because the E5 is the first car resulting from the rescue plan with which the Bavarian firm hopes to regain lost ground in China - currently the world's most important car market.

Just how serious the company is about this new beginning is evident from the dramatic design of the E5 Sportback. AUDI has ditched the ubiquitous single-frame grille, but the E5 Sportback also has a more modern logo - in a new typeface and in capital letters. Perhaps more importantly, almost 100 years after the merger of car manufacturers Horch, Wanderer, DKW, and Audi to form Auto Union, the four Audi rings have been removed.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

While most Western brands are currently suffering massive losses in China, none have been hit as hard as Audi. In the first half of 2025, the firm lost 10 per cent of its Chinese sales in total and a staggering 25 per cent of its combustion-engine car sales.

This was a continuation of a trend that had been eroding Audi market share through recent years.