Audi will build a full-electric compact crossover based on the Q4 e-tron concept at Volkswagen Group's joint venture with SAIC Motor in China, according to a local media report.

The electric Audi Q4 e-tron will be built at SAIC-VW's newly constructed EV plant in Shanghai's suburban Anting district, Beijing news website Sina.com reported, citing information obtained from SAIC-VW.

The EV will be the first Audi assembled at the plant, which is expected to begin output in November.

The factory will produce vehicles based on VW's MEB platform for EVs. It can produce up to 300,000 vehicles annually at full capacity for the Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda brands.

VW introduced the Audi Q4 e-tron, at the Geneva auto show in March.

In Europe, the Q4 e-tron will be built at VW Group's factory in Zwickau, Germany, where VW is investing 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) to produce as many as 330,000 EVs a year for the VW, Audi and Seat brands.

Audi last year bought a 1 percent stake in SAIC-VW, turning the joint venture into a 50-48-1-1 partnership among SAIC, VW, Skoda and Audi. The deal paved the way for the joint venture to build and market Audi vehicles.

FAW-VW -- a 60-30-10 partnership among China FAW Group Corp., VW Group and Audi -- has been the only China source for the assembly and distribution of Audi models.

The new production site and a second distribution network will help Audi fend off intensifying competition from German luxury rivals Mercedes-Benz and BMW in China.

Audi remained the top luxury automotive brand in China by annual sales in 2018. But it risks losing that crown.

In the first four months of the year, Audi's China sales slid 0.5 percent to 205,698 behind BMW brand, which sold 218,330 vehicles, a gain of 13 percent. Mercedes-Benz was the best-selling premium brand with a 2.2 percent rise to 232,050.