Why Would Audi Want To Rip Its Logo Off Its New Chinese Electric Cars?

It feels dumb to say that the most powerful thing any automotive brand has is its brand, but it’s not wrong. Just as a Ferrari economy car would feel unusual, so would, say, a Dacia hypercar. You have to be careful what you put your badge on, but does that explain why Audi is reportedly not planning on attaching its iconic four-ring logo onto upcoming Chinese EVs?

In addition to a report on Audi potentially not slapping four rings on Chinese co-developed EVs, we’ve got a fun grab-bag of news for you, here. California wants to put vehicle titles on the blockchain, Subaru sales are up last month but only by the skin of the brand’s teeth, and Maserati is going berserk.

In fairness, I can’t blame Maserati for announcing it’s rolling into Pebble Beach with a chip on its shoulder, because man, the internet hasn’t been kind to it in the wake of Stellantis announcing it’s thinking of trimming brands. Anyway, let’s circle back to this Audi news.

Don’t Put Four Rings On It?

In an era of increased technology-sharing and homogeneity in the automotive industry, safeguarding brand identity is paramount, and Audi is said to be considering an interesting move, possibly to protect its brand image in the west and leverage domestic branding in China. Reuters reports that for Chinese-built EVs developed in partnership with SAIC, Audi is looking to ditch its traditional logo.

The decision by the premium marque owned by Germany’s Volkswagen is due to “brand image consideration,” one of the people [with direct knowledge of the plans] said. It also reflects the use of automotive architecture co-developed with Chinese partner SAIC (600104.SS) and an increased reliance on local suppliers and technologies.

What does that mean? Also from the article:

Audi declined to comment on what it called speculation. SAIC said in a statement to Reuters that the EVs would be “true Audi with authentic Audi DNA”.

Chinese automakers are increasingly taking share in their home market – the world’s largest – with tech-savvy EVs. That’s led to sinking sales for foreign automakers, many of which are much more reliant on gasoline-engine models, pushing them into forming new partnerships.

Since Chinese EV manufacturers are going blow-for-blow with the Western establishment on technology, the draw of a German luxury brand over a Chinese luxury brand in the West is heritage. By saving the Audi logo for German-developed vehicles using entirely Audi technologies, the brand can create a two-tier system to encourage image-seekers to step up to an Audi-developed EV.

That’s assuming anyone actually cares anymore about a car being German-designed.

The terrifying flip side to this is that Chinese sales of Western automotive brands haven’t been so hot right now. Maybe Audi is better off with a brand that feels more Chinese, in the same way SAIC is branding its Chinese-built cars in the UK as “MGs.”

Is it possible that automakers are realizing that the cachet of a Western automaker in China is maybe less strong than one of a Chinese-backed startup?

California Wants To Put Car Titles On The Blockchain

Yes, you read that right. As reported by Automotive News, California wants to put car titles on the blockchain to prevent fraud and loss, and is currently running a trial to see what happens (If you’re not familiar with blockchain technology it’s basically a distributed, unmodifiable digital record used to record transactions or activity). Obviously, if this comes to be the way forward, it’ll have some reasonably significant ramifications, but it also faces difficulties in implementation.

On the plus side, it’s way harder to lose a title when the DMV holds it virtually. In addition, keeping things digital could make it easier to declare a change in ownership after selling a vehicle, which would make it much harder to get screwed by someone riding around in a car that’s still registered to you.

On the minus side, California’s digital title implementation proposal includes basically putting everything on the blockchain. Now, the bad part about that isn’t the concept of digital ledgers themselves. After all, the blockchain is really just a form of digital rights management, a bit like the shit Sony tried to pull with the PS4, but less inherently nefarious. The blockchain provides proof that someone owns an item, even if that item is super wack. It could be the title of a Ferrari, it could be a photo of a Ferrari, it could be a cease and desist from Ferrari, it doesn’t matter. That’s how all the stupid ape-drawing NFTs happened.

So, the downside isn’t that having a car title on the blockchain makes you look like a massive dork, it’s the potential power demand of a blockchain-based system. Because the blockchain process involves computers solving progressively harder puzzles, eventually, the electricity and computing demand will run up, and that’s a concern. Hey, at least we got some great political nonsense about this, with Oxhead Alpha president Andrew Smith telling Automotive News this:

As we get more sophisticated in our handling and understanding of the tools and techniques, technology will get more and more user-friendly, and the benefits that are waiting in the wings here for secure transportation and digital assets will be a real driver for economic growth.

Translation? We’re still figuring this shit out, but who knows? It could be a good thing for the government once everyone gets the hang of it. And this is the technology company partnered with the California DMV saying this? Well, best of luck to everyone involved, then.

The Subaru Solterra Is…Winning?

Sales figures for July are out, and you know who had a weird month? Subaru. Sales are up 2.6 percent over last July, and if that isn’t treading water, I don’t know what is. So where do the gainers and losers in Subaru’s lineup sit? Well, in the right places to vindicate making boring-ass cars.

Compared to last July, BRZ sales are down 12.9 percent to 271 cars, and WRX sales are down a whopping 27.7 percent to 1,369 cars. So much for driving excitement, huh? Oh, and the news for passenger cars gets worse from there. The regular Impreza? Sales are down 7.9 percent to 2,578 cars, Legacy sales dropped 17.1 percent compared to the same period of sales last year, Ascent sales are down. a minor 1.4 percent, but more concerningly, Forester sales are down 26.4 percent from 14,504 to 10,682. That right there is a big deal, so how is Subaru treading water right now?

Well, thanks to the strength of two mainline crossovers, things aren’t looking too bad from a headline perspective. Crosstrek sales are up 36.3 percent over last July to 15,318 units, and it’s easy to see why. Consumers are still price-sensitive, and the Crosstrek is a big deal in the subcompact crossover space from a branding perspective. In addition, the Outback saw a sales increase of 14.3 percent to 14,204 units. However, the big surprise is the oft-maligned Solterra EV, with sales rising 66.4 percent to 1,261 units. Hey, when you’re technically gaining volume by the skin of your teeth, any W is a W.

Maserati’s Bringing Something Bonkers To Car Week

If you want further proof that Stellantis hasn’t given up on Maserati yet, here it is. The brand’s announced that a “new super sports car” is incoming, although the teaser image released really just makes it look like a harder-core MC20. Actually, that’s exactly what it is, and we certainly aren’t complaining. I’ve tweaked the exposure on the teaser image because that’s fair game, it it looks like we’re in for some excitement.

Right off the rip, it’s hard to ignore all the gills visible in the teaser image that just don’t exist on the regular MC20. Maserati claims that its new flagship model will draw inspiration from the marque’s GT2 race car, not a bad place to potentially borrow some parts from. Speaking of parts, the whole front fascia appears more aggressive than on a standard MC20, with what appears to be a substantially re-profiled nose that shrinks the proboscis surrounding the birdcage grille.

While we still don’t know what the entire aero package on, or output of, this new MC20 variant will be like, one thing’s for certain — Maserati’s taking its supercar and making it even more super. Expect to see it debut at The Quail on Aug. 16, not a bad venue for making a splash.

[Ed note: We’ve been invited to check it out and definitely will – MH]

What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD

Ever stumble upon some gold? Cincinatti, Ohio-based dance-rockers Fluffer scratch a certain itch, even if you don’t know about them yet. On the track “Afterlife,” the combination of rolling 808s, sparkling arpeggios, and the use of an absolutely clapped E36 drift car in the music video suggest that these guys are fun to party with. Although the band doesn’t seem to have released anything since 2019, it still feels criminal that it only has 25 monthly Spotify listeners. For the hazy days of summer, give this a spin.

The Big Question

If almost everything goes electric as promised, how do you reckon established Western brands will hold onto buyers as the driving experiences get ever more similar from vehicle to vehicle? Is it just a matter of branding and trust, are trade sanctions enough, or is there something else consumers will latch onto?

(Photo credits: Audi, Subaru, Maserati)