Even with a fixed 15% dealer margin, Audi 4S stores were thrilled.
"Don't underestimate 15%," one insider said.
"When a car costs hundreds of thousands of RMB, that's still ¥50,000–¥60,000
(≈ $6,880–$8,250) profit per unit."
And that's just from the base sale.
The final earnings were even higher with add-ons like financing, insurance, and interior upgrades.
Other luxury brands usually operated with 25% off invoice pricing. Audi's discount to dealers? Just 15%. But because price hikes and forced accessory bundles were banned, the system was fair and transparent.
"Sure, others might give deeper discounts," a manager said.
"But they also allow price gouging to make up for it. Audi doesn't."
💬 Haifeng's Rule
"No tricks. No 'value-added bundles.'
No floor mats for ¥10,000. No dash cams disguised as VIP upgrades."
And he meant it. That 15%?
That's all they were allowed to make.
Dealers couldn't sneak in hidden costs. The deposit they paid was also a compliance guarantee.
"Try to cheat the customer, and the brand drops you.
Period."
Still, it was enough.
"If you want the horse to run fast, feed it well."
Haifeng's logic was simple:
Give dealers just enough profit to motivate them—but not enough to corrupt them.
And it worked.
Every authorized Audi dealer was ecstatic.
"We were smart to jump on this brand early," they said.
"Other companies have a thousand dealers fighting for scraps.
Right now, Audi has less than 100 total. We're eating big."
Huizhou – Yuntong Audi 4S Store
Lu Wenlin, dealership owner, could barely contain his joy.
When China Star was recruiting dealers, he'd gone all in—emptied his savings, mortgaged his house, and secured the exclusive Huizhou regional rights.
"Back then, I was terrified," he admitted.
"One mistake, and I'd be ruined."
But today?
The showroom was packed.
Customers were lining up to throw money at him.
"Sales manager! How many orders so far?" he shouted.
"Over fifty—and it's only been two hours!
We'll pass two hundred by the end of the day," the manager replied.
"But we've only got eighty cars in this batch.
At ten cars per day going forward, it'll take months to fulfill today's orders!"
Even with the backlog, the manager was glowing.
"The volume might be small, but the demand is massive.
My bonus this month's going to be huge."
Lu Wenlin patted his back, beaming.
"Good! Very good!"
"Sure, we can't deliver them all immediately…
But this order book? It guarantees income for weeks."
He couldn't help but grumble a little.
"If only the factory could scale faster…"
But he understood.
Each dealer got eighty cars from China Star's limited first-batch inventory.
That alone required over 10,000 units, across 60 dealers and over 100 company-owned stores.
Right now, the Audi factory's daily output is only 700 units.
And Haifeng had prioritized dealers, even at the cost of his stores.
"Even if the second production line comes online soon," Lu muttered,
"there's no way we'll get hundreds per day. That's a dream."