news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

Source: e Company

After the news of "buying a BMW for 170,000 yuan" became a hot topic, the BMW Group adjusted its sales strategy in the Chinese market.

It is reported that BMW will further implement the "reducing volume to maintain price" policy to cope with the losses of dealer stores caused by price wars.

In early June, BMW caused heated discussions in the market due to its substantial discounts on its i3, i5 and other pure electric models. In dealer stores in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other places, the bare car price of i3 after the discount was about 170,000 yuan, and the discount on BMW i5 was also unprecedented.

The core reason for this series of price cuts is the intensified market competition.

Public data shows that in the first half of 2024, the BMW Group delivered a total of 1.2134 million new vehicles (including BMW, MINI, and Rolls-Royce) in the global market, a year-on-year decrease of 0.1%. Among them, the global sales of the BMW brand increased by 2.3% year-on-year to 1.0965 million vehicles.

However, BMW's Chinese market showed a downward trend. In the first half of the year, BMW China's cumulative sales were 375,900 vehicles (including BMW and MINI brands), a year-on-year decrease of 4.2%.

An insider close to BMW dealers revealed to the Securities Times e-company reporter that under the price war, it is estimated that in 2024, the three luxury brands BBA (BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi) will lose sales of about 500,000 vehicles in the Chinese market.

Many industry insiders believe that BMW's price reduction strategy in China will not lead to an increase in sales, but will instead dilute its brand effect.

BMW has recently frequently adjusted its distribution strategies to cope with market changes.

It is reported that in June, BMW announced a 15% reduction in wholesale sales targets, and in July it was reduced by another 15%. At the same time, BMW also lowered the rebate threshold for dealers and cancelled financial penetration and secret procurement assessments.

BMW did not give a clear answer on whether the changes in dealer assessments were true. However, giving dealers more relaxed sales tasks and working with them through difficult times are indeed strategies that BMW has been emphasizing in the past six months.

A salesperson at a BMW 4S store in Chaoyang District, Beijing, told reporters that the prices of all BMW products have been raised, with the increase ranging from 30,000 yuan to 50,000 yuan.

“The sales are over. The big price cuts are causing dealers to lose money,” said the car salesperson.

BMW Group said that the current competition in the Chinese auto market is extremely fierce. In the second half of the year, BMW will focus on business quality in the Chinese market and support dealers to make steady progress.

It is reported that at next month's Chengdu Auto Show, BMW will bring several mid-term facelift and replacement models to their domestic debut.

Industry insiders have analyzed that the public opinion effect of BMW's announcement to withdraw from the "price war" is stronger than its actual actions. According to the data in the first half of the year, although BMW's sales in China have declined, it still exceeds that of Mercedes-Benz and Audi. It is expected that BMW will continue to guide dealers to flexibly adjust prices according to market changes, and it is unlikely that it will not carry out price cuts at all.