The joint venture leader fires at the new forces.
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Author | Chai Xuchen
Editor | Zhou Zhiyu
Over the past two years, the joint venture car companies that once dominated the market with their brand, channels, and scale advantages have collectively begun learning how to sell cars anew.
They have abandoned the pricing logic of the fuel era, now talking about one-price policies, high-spec equality, limited-time benefits, intelligent cockpits, and even user operation. Because in the new energy era, the old order has been shattered.
While brands like Li Auto, AITO, and NIO are constantly reshaping the landscape of China's new energy SUV market, Volkswagen—the longtime leader during the fuel vehicle era—has missed the most critical years of this industry transition.
The joint venture brands that once stood atop the food chain are forced to switch from defense to survival.
Thus the industry gradually formed a "joint venture counterattack template."
First, enter the low-priced market, grab sales with lower thresholds; make a car with enough cost-performance to softly land on the new energy track; wait for users to accept you again, then slowly move upmarket. This script is realistic and steady, adopted by many brands.
But SAIC Volkswagen didn’t follow that script.
On April 25, 2026, the ID. ERA 9X officially debuted. Three models were launched, all priced under 300,000–350,000 yuan. Within one hour of launch, over 10,000 orders were secured. This is equivalent to directly entering the heart of the 300,000 yuan full-size SUV market, firing shots at flagship products from Li Auto L9, NIO ES9, Zeekr 9X, IM LS9, and Lanshan V9X.
Countering Moves
If pricing above 300,000 yuan signals posture, then fully packed configuration is a declaration of war.
The three ID. ERA 9X models all come standard with EA211 range extender, Xingyun intelligent driving assist, high-power dual motors, active rear-wheel steering, and Smart Surface magic screen as core features.
This means Volkswagen did not adopt the traditional approach—using low-spec models to lower entry barriers and high-spec models to earn profits. Instead, it resembles the strategy of new players: make core experiences standard across all models, and exchange product consistency for user reputation. This is rare among joint venture brands.
According to industry insiders, traditional joint venture systems excel at managing configuration gradients, using optional packages and trim level differences to expand profit margins. But the ID. ERA 9X is clearly designed according to the rules of China’s new energy market.
On another front, Volkswagen has grafted its mechanical prowess onto the hottest new energy track. The ID. ERA 9X is equipped with the EA211 EVO II range extender system. In Lhasa, the 0–100 km/h acceleration difference between 20% and 90% battery states is only 0.18 seconds; in Heihe at minus 30℃, this difference is only 0.8 seconds.
The core message behind these data points is simply: Volkswagen wants to make a truly stable range-extended vehicle without weak spots. This is precisely the part that many users care most about when buying a range-extended vehicle, yet is hardest to quantify.
Looking at the chassis, the ID. ERA 9X features the Xingyun intelligent chassis, integrating smart AWD, dual-chamber air suspension, DCC continuously adjustable damping, active rear-wheel steering, and front double wishbone plus rear five-link suspension. The minimum turning radius is 4.85 meters—almost intentionally solving the "big car, hard to drive" pain point for a large SUV.
This is a typical Volkswagen approach. New market players are good at creating experiences on screens, while Volkswagen tries to build differentiation on topics like chassis, mechanics, and driving feel—things users can sense every day but are not easily publicized.
On the intelligence level, Volkswagen is not being conservative either: The ID. ERA 9X debuts with the Momenta R7 reinforcement learning world model, and adopts a fusion solution of lidar, multiple cameras, and multiple sensors.
This shows Volkswagen has let go of the obsession with handling the full stack themselves, instead supplementing their smart shortfall with the most mature supply chain capabilities in the Chinese market. Mechanical systems stick to self-development, while intelligence quickly leverages the ecosystem. This is Volkswagen's most realistic, and most critical, change in recent years.
Breaking Through Upwards
In recent years, the most painful thing for joint venture brands is not just falling sales, but their value system loosening.
In the fuel era, joint venture brands’ premiums were almost naturally given. In the same segment, as long as it bore the logo of Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda, or Nissan, users were willing to pay more—because this meant reliability, resale value, sense of quality, and peace of mind for long-term use.
In the new energy era, this logic has weakened.
Users now focus more on range, intelligence, cockpit experience, assisted driving, and iteration speed. Many advantages once enjoyed by traditional brands have become less apparent, while many new standards are now first set by Chinese brands.
As a result, joint venture brands tend to take one path: price reductions.
Reduce the price, use brand awareness as the last layer of endorsement, then trade higher-spec configurations for orders. This approach works and can quickly boost sales. The problem is, if you rely on low prices long-term, your brand awareness will sink as well. Consumers gradually see you as a seller of cheap cars—not an industry leader.
For most brands, this is just a phase; but for SAIC Volkswagen, it could be a structural risk.
Because Volkswagen's real moat has never been a single blockbuster, but its capability across multiple price segments. It can sell the Lavida as a national car, Passat as a business car; sell mainstream SUVs like T-Roc and Tiguan, and high-end large SUVs like Touareg.
If in the new energy era it can only compete on price in the 150,000 yuan segment, Volkswagen is essentially giving up half its most valuable territory.
So the significance of the ID. ERA 9X is first a value defense: directly entering the 300,000 yuan high-end new energy market shows SAIC Volkswagen is not content just to “survive,” but wants to regain pricing power. SAIC Volkswagen General Manager Tao Hailong told Wallstreetcn that the ID. ERA 9X is an important vehicle for demonstrating SAIC Volkswagen’s competitiveness in the Joint Venture 2.0 era.
In other words, this car is here to prove SAIC Volkswagen still has the ability to make high-value new energy vehicles.
Breaking the Old to Establish the New
The ID. ERA 9X secured 11,079 orders in the first hour of launch—a result worth discussing. But people are more curious why Volkswagen is so aggressive at this moment. The answer is actually simple: scale anxiety.
Volkswagen’s past global competitiveness was essentially built on scale.
Scale means R&D cost amortization capabilities, procurement bargaining power, channel efficiency, brand influence, and the capital base for continuous investment in future technologies. The Chinese market is one of the most important pieces in Volkswagen’s global scale system.
Previously, Volkswagen long held a massive user base for fuel vehicles in China. Many families’ first, second, and third car might all have been Volkswagen. But in the new energy era, this path of upgrading is being intercepted.
Young families buying their first big car go to Li Auto; business families replacing their car go to AITO; high-end users adding new energy cars go to NIO or Zeekr. Volkswagen’s familiar users are now making decisions in other showrooms. If Volkswagen misses this new full-size SUV boom, it loses not just the sales of one model—but the entire family user lifecycle. That’s genuine anxiety.
Thus the ID. ERA 9X has to play in the high-end. Channel insiders recently told Wallstreetcn that, even though the market above 300,000 yuan is the most competitive, it gathers the most capable consumers, the most willing to pay for experience, and the easiest to establish brand recognition.
Winning here is more strategically valuable than selling tens of thousands of units in the low-price segment. It can quickly restore brand image, prove Volkswagen still possesses high-end new energy capabilities, and open the door for future products at lower price points.
That's why the ID. ERA 9X is not fighting alone. Tao Hailong told Wallstreetcn that SAIC Volkswagen will introduce seven more products, and release more new energy models in 2027.
The 9X is just the first shot. First use the flagship to gain momentum, then use the matrix to harvest the market—this is Volkswagen’s most familiar strategy.
Many people see the ID. ERA 9X as Volkswagen finally launching a proper new energy full-size SUV, but more accurately, it represents SAIC Volkswagen fighting by the rules of the Chinese market today. It also knows its mission: not to prove it can build EVs, but to regain a sense of value.
The traditional counterattack script for joint venture automakers started from low prices; SAIC Volkswagen has rewritten the script, directly firing at the main base of new rivals. Victory and defeat are for the market to decide, but at least, Volkswagen is no longer clinging to the old map to look for a new continent.
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