SAIC-VW Li Zhonghua: ID. Era 9X wants to bring Chinese users back into the public's arms

On April 24, 2026, the 19th Beijing International Automobile Exhibition was officially opened in the spotlight. With the theme of "leading the era, smart future", this auto show focuses on cutting-edge technologies such as intelligent driving, full-stack self-developed architecture, 800V high-voltage fast charging, and AI large model entry. In the same period, Auto House invited Li Zhonghua, Senior Director of Volkswagen Market Research and Media Evaluation/Volkswagen Brand Product Marketing, to conduct in-depth exchanges, focus on innovation together, and talk about the future of the industry. Right: Li Zhonghua, Senior Director of SAIC Volkswagen Market Research and Media Evaluation/Volkswagen Brand Product Marketing ‌ In the dialogue, Li Zhonghua said bluntly, ID. The birth of era 9X marks the brand's official entry into a new stage of "China defines and feeds the world". As the flagship of the Joint Venture 2.0 strategy, the car combines Volkswagen's deep chassis heritage with China's leading smart electricity technology. At the level of intelligence, the launch of the Momenta R7 world model and the nine-screen linkage cockpit have allowed Volkswagen to return to the industry's first echelon in the field of urban navigation and human-computer interaction. Li Zhonghua stressed that Volkswagen's moat lies in the "uncompromising" of quality and safety. Even today, when the internal volume is intensified, SAIC Volkswagen still insists on rigorous testing of millions of kilometers such as "two winters and two summers" and the extreme cold of the plateau. In the face of the painful period when the industry's profit margin fell below 3%, Li Zhonghua maintained a sober strategic determination. He believes that although market volatility and consumption tightening will bring challenges in the short term, the Chinese market is still the most dynamic source of innovation in the world. The goal of SAIC Volkswagen is to achieve a deep transformation from a “retail model” to a “customer service model” through rapid software OTA iteration and changes in the marketing system by compressing the product development cycle to 24 months while safeguarding the “mass standard” DNA. From the ePro hybrid series to the all-electric SUV of the future, SAIC Volkswagen is using ID. With era 9X as the starting point, we will build a new energy product matrix that has both the depth of mechanical quality and the breadth of intelligence. Li Zhonghua firmly believes that when global wisdom truly reacts chemically with China's speed, Chinese consumers will fall back in love with a more reliable, enterprising and caring public. ID. era 9X The following is a transcript of the conversation: Automobile House: What heavy products did Volkswagen bring to the last Beijing Auto Show and what highlights can introduce us. Li Zhonghua: Volkswagen is brand new. At this Beijing Auto Show, SAIC Volkswagen mainly launched ID. The era 9X, our flagship product, also brings two new ePro PHEV models, as well as the Pro family of fuel vehicles. Car House: ID. The era 9X is the first joint venture 2.0 global smart plus China speed landing case, what does this car mean for SAIC-Volkswagen? And what is the brand's mission? Li Zhonghua: ID. The era 9X is a concentrated reflection of global intelligence and China's speed, and is also a very critical step in the strategic transformation of the SAIC-Volkswagen Joint Venture 2.0. This product is of great strategic significance to SAIC-Volkswagen. The first is the product level, because this product is completely defined in China, but the Chinese definition does not mean that it is entirely a Chinese product, it is developed according to global standards, and will be exported to global markets. This is a new energy product that integrates German Seiko and Chinese intelligence. The golden range extension system uses the EA211 golden range extender to solve the power and fuel consumption problems in the case of power loss. Therefore, the EA211 Golden Range Extender actually has three obvious characteristics. First, it's efficient. Second, it's quiet. Third, the whole quality. The EA211 engine is particularly efficient and has very low fuel consumption. The mechanical quality of the entire engine itself is very strong. It is very wide in the entire low fuel consumption range and can always be in a low fuel consumption working state. Second, quietness. When the range extender runs in a power loss state, users will worry about excessive sound, but the EA211 golden range extender has a difference of only 0.5 dB, and the ID. The era 9X uses a lot of physical mute measures inside, including the whole system is equipped with active noise reduction as standard, so the inside of the car is very quiet. This car has undergone a lot of rigorous testing. The EA211 is an engine used by 25 million customers around the world. The quality of the product is verified. Another one is smart and we want to change the ID. The entire product positioning of era 9X is due to the previous flagship models such as Volkswagen Promethean (parameter | inquiry) and Phaeton. This model is also defined as the flagship in the Volkswagen Group. In addition to mechanical quality, the degree of intelligence has changed greatly. Smart Assisted Driving We will debut the Momenta R7 Reinforcement Learning World Model to navigate the city like an unprotected left turn, including like a narrow road, including like a lot of parking The experience is very good. Intelligent cockpit nine-screen linkage, especially the magic screen is very good. This car is not only a change in the product level, but also a change in our entire public system. Because this product is completely defined in China, our R&D process is revolving around customers, developed according to global standards, coupled with China's level of intelligence. This is the entire R&D system, including this time we use Momenta, which is jointly developed, jointly defined, and jointly verified. There is also a very big change in our marketing system, focusing more on customers, focusing on customer service, and changing the previous retail model. It is also very important that this product is a boost to our brand, ID. Era 9X is the first strategic model renewed by the entire Volkswagen brand, it is the first product that integrates Volkswagen standards and China intelligence, representing our flagship. We launched two ePro models this time, followed by the ID. Series models, as well as several new energy products, the entire product series will be launched quickly. SAIC Volkswagen's new brand image is reliable, enterprising and caring, and I want to make Chinese consumers fall in love with Volkswagen's new energy vehicles again with this product. Car House: You mentioned that the 9X has a lot of technical highlights, including quietness, low fuel consumption, smart cockpit, what do you think is our biggest advantage compared to the competition? Li Zhonghua: I think it's still about China's new energy vehicles, because I do market research and define products. I personally participated in this product. Now the customer has a big pain point. One is that the intelligentization of new energy is absolutely leading China, but regarding global standards, it is slightly weaker to quality and long-termism. While maintaining the mechanical advantages, we have comprehensively improved the level of intelligence. This product is a completely new development, which integrates China's cutting-edge intelligent technology and represents the latest technology of the Joint Venture 2.0. Therefore, this product takes into account the background of Volkswagen's consistent chassis and China's intelligentization. This product is a very comprehensive and balanced product. The range extender mentioned earlier, including intelligent assisted driving in the cloud, is also the first echelon in the industry. Coupled with the intelligent cockpit, human-machine interaction, and the overall silky level of voice, the intelligentization of the entire vehicle will make the customer's experience very good. After this product comes, it should reconstruct the competition pattern of the whole 9 series or the big six new energy products. Volkswagen 9X is a very balanced or comprehensive choice. Automobile House: Now that the Chinese market is getting more and more rolling, the iteration speed of new cars is getting faster and faster, and the development cycle is shortened to 18 months or even 12 months. What kind of pace will SAIC-Volkswagen maintain? Li Zhonghua: Volkswagen has been passing on human-centric technology. China is too voluminous. The entire product iteration speed is too fast, but Volkswagen's adherence to quality standards is unchanged. Our two winter and two summer requirements for vehicle safety will not compromise for speed, so your purchase of Volkswagen's brand is certainly reliable. Quality is what we must adhere to, and it is the DNA of the entire brand. Car House: What level of speed do you think is reasonable to maintain in China? Li Zhonghua: Our goal is to be able to develop a product in 24 months, and it is still very challenging, because you have to do a lot of experimental verification, including you have to do tests under extreme working conditions, like Volkswagen 9X two winters and two summers, including tests to Heihe, including to the plateau, extreme cases, to Hainan, Heihe, Tibet. This test must be done every year. To quickly find problems under this working condition and solve them quickly. Our current speed of 24 months may take into account how to respond quickly, and the overall safety quality of another Volkswagen's own brand. This cannot be compromised, so we also hope that our products will be strictly verified before they are launched. We will also accelerate the speed of OTA, especially in terms of software content and experience, and plan for rapid OTA iteration. China's new energy has led the world's new energy, so the future new energy we are planning now is China's definition, or exported to the world, including ID. Era 9X is also very clear, we have the case of the back exit. Automobile House: The profit margin of the automobile industry was about 4.1% last year, but it has dropped to 2.9% in the first two months of this year. What do you think of such a low profit in the Chinese market? Li Zhonghua: Personally, I am still optimistic about the overall Chinese automobile market. One reason for such a difficult market in the first quarter of this year is that the policy changed last year, and the other is that the downstream of oil trucks is relatively strong. The international situation is turbulent, and the price of crude oil is so high. The overall consumption is still relatively low, but from the overall trend, Chinese automobiles are still the most dynamic market. Because I also look at some other markets in Europe and North America, including Southeast Asia. In the future, I am definitely optimistic about the Chinese market. There may be shocks in the short term, and the entire automotive market structure will also be adjusted. The entire Chinese demand, including economic vitality, will remain relatively stable in the short term. However, some growth may be relatively low in the long term. Exports are still a very big opportunity, and product upgrades are an opportunity. Car House: This is our first landing case, can you introduce the follow-up product planning? Li Zhonghua: We also have plug-in hybrid, pure-electric SUVs this year, as well as extended-range products, and a new generation of pure-electricity behind them, including products like new energy, which have continued the consistent quality of the public and China's intelligence, including the technical architecture. The entire function and customer experience are consistent.