news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

amid constant market changes, the chill has spread to traditional luxury brands.

on september 10, the bmw group announced a comprehensive reduction in its performance forecast for fiscal 2024, including indicators such as delivery volume, ebit margin, and return on capital employed.

in response, the bmw group said: first, due to technical problems, the production of some vehicles has been discontinued, which will have a negative impact on the company's global sales in the second half of the year; second, sales in important markets such as china are sluggish.

it is worth noting that the stock prices of well-known car companies such as bmw, mercedes-benz, volkswagen, porsche and renault fell sharply afterwards, with bmw falling by nearly 10% at one point.

recalls have ripple effects

according to the official announcement of the bmw group: compared with the previous year, delivery volume has decreased slightly (previously it increased slightly); the ebit margin in 2024 will be between 6% and 7% (previously 8% to 10%); the return on capital employed will be between 11% and 13% (previously 15% to 20%).

the gradually fermenting recall incident is one of the important reasons why bmw group lowered its expectations. bmw said that the suspension of production of some vehicles due to technical problems will have a negative impact on the company's global sales in the second half of the year, and the recall of some vehicles will also bring millions of euros in costs.

it is understood that bmw has previously announced that it will recall up to 1.5 million vehicles worldwide or stop delivery due to problems with the integrated braking system (ibs) of these vehicles. this not only involves vehicles that have been delivered to customers, but also vehicles that have not yet been delivered to legal owners, that is, a comprehensive stop to delivery.

in the chinese market, bmw also issued a recall notice on september 11, involving multiple models of imported, brilliance bmw and beam automotive, with a total of about 360,000 delivered vehicles. the reason is that the electrical signal of the motor position sensor of the integrated brake booster (dsci) is interfered, which may cause dsci to be unable to provide auxiliary braking, affecting the anti-lock braking system (abs) and dynamic stability control system (dsc) functions.

according to the recall plan, bmw will upgrade the software for vehicles within the recall scope free of charge through ota. the software can monitor the potential risks of dsci and send early warning messages through the vehicle system, prompting users to return to the store to replace dsci parts free of charge to eliminate safety hazards.

alexander the great in the chinese market

in this downward adjustment, the bmw group also emphasized that the continued sluggish demand in important markets such as china also had an impact on sales.

data shows that in the first half of the year, the bmw group delivered 1.213 million new cars worldwide. among them, the bmw brand sold 1.096 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 2.3%, while rolls-royce and mini fell by 11.4% and 18.8% respectively. in its largest market in the world, china, the bmw group's sales in the first half of the year were 376,400 vehicles, accounting for 31% of the global total sales. however, compared with the same period last year, there was a 4.3% decline.

in addition, bmw is struggling to cope with rounds of price wars: "bmw and its peers are under pressure in the key market of china, where local automakers are winning market share with lower-cost electric vehicles, forcing their european rivals to slash prices."

amid the chaos, the terminal prices of many bmw models dropped sharply and then quickly rebounded this year, causing dissatisfaction among some dealers. according to relevant media reports, some consumers who bought bmw vehicles exceeded the previously agreed time for picking up the vehicles and parked them in the parking lot of 4s stores but were not allowed to pick up the vehicles.

in fact, the bmw brand is one of the traditional luxury brands that has been carrying out energy transformation earlier, and has made clear progress in key areas such as factories and products.

in april this year, bmw announced an additional investment of 20 billion yuan in its shenyang production base, focusing on large-scale upgrades and technological innovations of bmw's production plants in china; previously, bmw also invested 10 billion yuan in the construction of a high-voltage battery factory.

in terms of product planning, bmw plans to launch a new generation of models in 2025 and put into production at least six new cars in the next two years. these new cars will be equipped with a new electronic and electrical architecture, a high-performance electric drive battery system and a new user interface and human-machine interaction.

mutual concept.

but the most clear thing we know about the market is that "it is always unknown". the car delivery controversy, recall incidents, falling stock prices...a series of unexpected disturbances are all difficulties for the bmw group that shouts "in china, for china".

according to the bmw group's 2024 first-half financial report, the bmw group's total automotive business revenue in the first half of the year was 63.009 billion euros, basically the same as 62.898 billion euros in the same period last year. however, in terms of revenue, its pre-tax profit fell 14.2% year-on-year to 8.023 billion euros, compared with 9.351 billion euros in the same period last year.

judging from the current market trends, it is not only the bmw elephant that has difficulty turning around, but the bba, which once "dominated the market", is facing the same problem.

in the first half of this year, audi achieved operating income of approximately 30.939 billion euros, a year-on-year decrease of 9.5%; mercedes-benz achieved operating income of approximately 72.616 billion euros, a year-on-year decrease of 4%; bmw achieved operating income of approximately 73.558 billion euros, a year-on-year decrease of 0.7%.

"the electrification and intelligence of the chinese market are developing rapidly. every press conference of brands such as huawei and xiaomi can generate heated discussions among the whole nation. the appeal of traditional luxury brands is gradually weakening." industry insiders said that in this context, adjusting strategies and r&d technologies is the best and only solution for major brands in the face of changes in the times.

‌