Two Stories No One Knew How to Tell.

The Results

Impact & Recognition

10,153
Launch Orders in 30 Minutes

47,000+
Annual Sales (+23% YOY)

2026
China Car of the Year
First new brand to win within debut year

200+
User Centers Across 100+ Cities

"The response was overwhelming: more than 10,000 orders in just 30 minutes after launch!"
— Ralf Brandstätter, Board Member for China, Volkswagen Group

The Challenge

Two Impossible Briefs

Challenge #1: A German Car That Needs a China Story
Audi stripped away the Four Rings to create AUDI — a standalone brand exclusively for China. It needed a narrative authentically of China, not just adapted for it.

Challenge #2: Selling German When Chinese Means Better
In 2025, Chinese consumers believed domestic EV brands — BYD, NIO, XPeng — were more advanced. "German engineering" had become a legacy talking point, not a purchase driver.

No Four Rings. No Legacy Story.
A Brand-New Brand in the World's Toughest EV Market.

The Solution

Don't Argue. Show.

The Panlong Ancient Road in Xinjiang: 36 km, 600+ hairpin turns, 3,000m to 4,200m altitude. One of China's most legendary roads.

For the China story: The road is iconic Chinese landscape — raw, dramatic, unmistakably rooted in this land. A German car earning its place on a road that would break anything less. That's not adaptation. That's belonging.

For the German story: 600 turns of relentless physics at altitude. This is where German engineering stops being a talking point and starts being a feeling you experience in your body.

"A perfect blend of iconic AUDI DNA and China's innovation power."
— Ralf Brandstätter, Board Member for China, Volkswagen Group

The Process

1. Research

Mapped China's EV perception landscape. Identified why domestic brands were winning hearts and why "German engineering" no longer drove purchase decisions.

2. Brand Strategy

Developed the dual-story framework: the China belonging and German credibility problems had to be solved simultaneously with a single creative image.

3. Production

Panlong Ancient Road TVC concept — location scouting rationale, narrative arc, shot list. Full campaign asset production across digital, social, and dealer channels.

4. Launch

September 16, 2025, Guangzhou. Coordinated rollout across 200+ user centers. 10,153 orders in the first 30 minutes.

Project Gallery

Panlong Ancient Road serpentine switchbacks

"The best brand storytelling doesn't explain the product. It makes you feel why the product exists."
— Post-project Reflection

Takeaways

What Worked

• One image, two answers: Panlong Ancient Road solved the China-story problem and the why-German problem in a single visual concept

• Show, don't argue: The film never said "German quality." It showed a German car on a Chinese road and let the audience feel the answer

• The product earned the story: 787 hp and 773 km range meant the TVC wasn't aspirational — it was documentary

What I Learned

"The hardest design problems are never about the interface. They're about the story the experience tells."

A China story uses Chinese landscape, Chinese geography, Chinese emotional terrain to reveal something true about the brand. The brand has to earn its place in the story, not be inserted into it.

Next time: Extend the Panlong concept into a series — different legendary Chinese roads, each revealing a different aspect of the car's character. One film opens the door; a series builds the world.