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a good horse never turns back to eat the grass it has left.bmwbut not necessarily.

from "lowering prices to maintain market share" to "reducing quantity to stabilize prices", bmw withdrew from the "price war" in the chinese market only two months ago. faced with the cruel market, it had to once again use price to curry favor with users.

today's chinese market has changed a lot.joint venture brands are no longer the absolute mainstream, and the luxury car market is no longer dominated by bba.

bmw, there is no better way.

i really don't buy it.

after carefully analyzing and summarizing the sales data for august, bmw finally gave up its illusions and dignity, and returned to the mainstream market strategy of exchanging price for volume, even at the cost of slapping itself in the face.

during the chengdu auto show in early september, when talking about the price issue that has attracted public attention, gao xiang, president and ceo of bmw group greater china, still insisted that "the current price war is unhealthy and unsustainable for automakers, consumers and dealers."

gao xiang's viewpoint is certainly correct, but the long-term development vision must give way to the immediate survival issue.

recently, authoritative media reported that bmw has decided to lower the prices of relevant models, which means thatbmw returns to the "price war" after a two-month hiatus.

this is also a last resort. in the short term, after experiencing price cuts and then price increases, bmw found thatchinese consumers really don’t buy it.after all, price reduction has become the mainstream, and in the chinese auto market with rapid iteration of intelligence, bmw is no longer the must-have luxury car.

in august, bmw's total sales in the chinese market were only 34,800 units, down 42% year-on-year, hitting the bottom; its monthly sales ranked 15th among all brands, down 6 places. in that month, no bmw model sold more than 10,000 units, and even its most popular 3 series sold less than 8,000 units.

you know, in the past few years, bmw has been the sales champion of luxury cars in china.benz、audiin august, bmw's sales volume shrank due to price increases, while mercedes-benz and audi, whose prices were relatively stable, sold 49,500 and 47,900 vehicles respectively that month, achieving a significant lead.

greater pressure comes from the bmw group.

data shows that in the first half of this year, bmw group delivered a total of 1.2134 million vehicles worldwide, down 0.1% year-on-year. among them, bmw brand's global sales increased by 2.3% year-on-year to 1.0965 million vehicles.

however, china, bmw's most important market, is showing a downward trend.in the first half of the year, bmw china sold a total of 375,900 vehicles (including bmw and MINI), down 4.2% year-on-year.

bmw's announcement also changed its past optimism.deliveries are expected to decline slightly in fiscal 2024, and all major financial indicators were significantly lower than market expectations.

swing price war

faced with the severe internal competition and price war in the chinese market, bba, which used to dominate the chinese luxury car market, has had to throw itself into the brutal war.

last year, bmw's full-year discount rate was 17.66%, higher than the industry average of 15.7%.driven by prices, bmw sold 825,000 vehicles in china in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 4.2%, lower than the group's global market growth rate of 6.5%.

in june this year, bmw showed greater sincerity, including pure electric modelsbmw i3, and even offered a "discounted price". the model with a suggested retail price of 353,900 yuan was reduced to a minimum price of 170,000 yuan.

the bmw i3, which costs more than 300,000 yuan, has problems with its conversion from gasoline to electric and low level of intelligence. the i3, which starts with the first digit, is really good and has no problems at all. in that month, the i3 sold 6,952 units, ranking second among joint venture new energy vehicles, setting a record high.

however, bmw did not maintain its "enthusiasm".

the ongoing price war has eroded the company's profits and seriously affected the interests of dealers.

in july, news broke thatbmw has decided to withdraw from the one-year strategy of “cutting prices to maintain market share” and instead adopt the strategy of “reducing volumes to stabilize prices.”on july 12, bmw china responded to market concerns, saying that it will focus on business quality in the chinese market and support dealers to move forward steadily.

as soon as the words were spoken, the terminal prices of bmw models were generally adjusted back by 30,000 to 50,000 yuan. this wave of operations even caused consumers who had already placed orders before to pay extra to pick up the car.

bmw withdrew from the price war, and mercedes-benz and audi also expressed their intention to follow suit, but in the end, only bmw itself firmly implemented this strategy.

the "dishonesty" of their peers caused some consumers who were interested in purchasing bmw to go to mercedes-benz and audi 4s stores.

bmw's price hike after a price cut has sparked heated discussions on the internet. on social platforms, various car reviewers have almost unanimously suggested that consumers who want to buy bmw wait and see. in their opinion,under the current chinese auto market environment, bmw's price increase strategy may be difficult to sustain.

unexpectedly, only two months later, the prediction came true. in these two months, bmw owners who bought high and not low were stabbed in the back again.

market changes

whether you are willing to accept it or not, china's auto market has changed.

who could have imagined ten years ago that joint venture brands would be beaten to pieces in the chinese market and bba would have to cut prices to gain market share?

in the first eight months of this year, the market share of china's domestic brands in the auto market has reached 63.2%, becoming the absolute main force.in the process of the automobile industry switching from traditional fuel to new energy, chinese auto companies have overtaken joint venture brands in many aspects, including technology, production capacity, and supporting facilities.bydthe world's king of new energy vehicles.

with the rapid increase in the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in china's auto market, slow-moving joint venture brands have to readjust their market strategies.

it is understood that in the first half of this year, only 40 automobile brands launched discounts, subsidies or price reduction strategies for hundreds of models.the discount rate for domestic brands is 7.3%, while that for joint venture brands is as high as 19.2%.the discount rate of luxury brands, which had relatively strong prices in the past, has reached 18.4%.

from early imitation and cooperation to comprehensive independent research and development, chinese auto brands are no longer synonymous with low-end. especially in the new energy sector, high-end new energy vehicles have been firmly dominated by chinese auto brands, and the price range continues to rise.

huawei-backedask the world, sales have hit new highs this year. the starting price is as high as 469,800 yuanqjm9, becoming a phenomenal product, having topped the sales volume in the luxury car market over rmb 500,000 for many consecutive months, and continuously setting new sales records for high-end models in china.

byd's million-level luxury car u8 has instantly raised the ceiling of chinese brand cars.

from the past “no money to buy a bmw” to now “no money, buy a bmw”, it is time for bba to make big changes.