Spring of 2026 witnesses another milestone for KHAT as the Chinese air suspension supplier declares its official entry into Audi's global supply chain. The nomination letter was sent from Audi AG headquarters on March 9th appointing KHAT as the air spring supplier for two of Audi's flagship all electric SUV models to be sold worldwide.
It's a moment worth of celebration for the KHAT team, not only because they have put in nine months of hard work designing, evaluating, carrying out rounds of rigorous tests on air spring prototypes since the project kickoff in September 2024, but also that it may symbolize a new level of recognition for Chinese suppliers in the high-end air suspension segment.
German engineers testing prototypes of KHAT's air spring; image source: KHAT
"Amazingly good!"
Last summer, air spring prototypes for two of Audi's flagship all electric SUV were finalized by KHAT and sent to Neustadt, Bavaria, Germany for chassis tuning. Prior to this SUV project, the Audi engineering team had reportedly no exposure to any air springs produced by a Chinese manufacturer. Expecting a typical tuning process that takes a minimum of two weeks, the German engineers were astonished to see the test vehicle reach ideal ride and handling balance in less than a week. "Das war erstaunlich gut!" (That was amazingly good!) remarked Kamil, the Audi chassis tuning lead, impressed by the vehicle's outstanding ride and handling performance.
Dinner gathering of the tuning team; image source: KHAT
Following the praise, Audi gave its top-level Grade A rating to KHAT's products on trial and eight months later officially nominated KHAT as the air spring supplier for two premium EV models.
The acknowledgment is especially remarkable since Audi, with its 117-year history, is widely regarded within the industry for its uncompromising standards for both product quality and supplier qualification.
"Harshness" Alleviated
One of the key elements that helped KHAT win Grade A and finally the nomination from Audi is something known as Spiral Winding Air-sleeve Technology (SWAT). Compared to traditional manufacturing processes, this cutting-edge technology is capable of maintaining precise control of bellows cord layout and rubber thickness, allowing air spring engineers to release the full capability of every strand of cord and every gram of rubber through optimizing their designs so that pinpoint accuracy be achieved avoiding situations where some attributes are over-engineered while others compromised.
As this Audi project represents the top tier of the automaker's EV lineup, the German technical team imposed stringent requirements on suppliers for multiple key performance indicators of the air suspension system, far more than for other vehicle models. Among these indicators is HARSHNESS, which, in suspension systems, refers to a its ability to filter out fine road bumps and abrupt impacts. Superior harshness performance ensures the elimination of fine vibrations and jolts from the road delivering a far smoother driving experience that increases comfort and alleviates fatigue from prolonged driving to a considerable extent.
Audi decided that SWAT is their solution to the harshness issue, and thus requested that all KHAT air springs for Audi should be produced exclusively with SWAT bellows.
KHAT SWAT Workshop; image source: KHAT
Beyond the standard methods used to tune air spring static stiffness, KHAT also focuses on the air spring dynamic stiffness. That practice enables their R&D team's capabilities to optimize vibration comfort for different vehicle models and deliver powerful engineering support for dynamic performance matching. These engineering strengths have provided the crucial foundation required to meet Audi's demanding harshness targets.
Going Global
Leading in the niche sector in China, KHAT has mastered reliable SWAT technology and delivered over 5 million air springs in total. The company is also gaining international recognition as the country's air suspension industry garners growing attention worldwide due to the extensive use of air suspension in passenger cars in recent years. KHAT expects this project with the renowned German automaker to be the beginning of its co-operations on a much broader scale with Audi as well as other global car makers in the years ahead.
