In addition to the brand market and channels, it is more difficult to overcome the technical bottleneck!
The BBA pure electric vehicles sold are almost all based on the transformation of fuel vehicles, and the pure electric change is slow.
Due to the restrictions of the mainland's national automobile industry policy, foreign companies must carry out 50:50 joint ventures with Chinese enterprises in vehicle production, and the share ratio has only begun to be liberalized in recent years.
In the past, joint ventures were the main channel for multinational companies to understand and analyze the needs of Chinese consumers in order to localize their products to a higher degree.
In fact, in the R & D personnel and market layout, there is a big difference between the talents of overseas car companies and the actual market, in the past collaboration system, Chinese R & D personnel rarely need to participate in the core technology research and development of a certain model.
Today, the joint venture R&D center already has the ability to develop the whole vehicle, and some only realize some simple design, On-board system Chinese and parts localization procurement and other supporting functions, more like an assembly plant, and more three core pieces of technology, are still in the multinational enterprise headquarters R & D and manufacturing.
Therefore, the proportion of joint venture brands, including BBA, whether it is development or research and development, is very small, and it is difficult for China to master the core technology. FAW-Volkswagen Audi, Beijing Benz, BMW Brilliance mainly play the role of production and sales, while model development is still a "patent" at the Headquarters in Germany.
Technological backwardness has become a fact
Where is the technical content of BBA's current mainstream pure electric models? Let's take a closer look, the mileage of the three electric vehicles is only 500 kilometers, and the BBA has always been the leading driving experience, which is simply vulnerable in the face of new forces, the BBA electric vehicle 100 km acceleration is still stuck at the level of 6/7 seconds, while the Weilai ES8 has reached 4.9 seconds, and the Entry Model of Xiaopeng Automobile is the fastest has reached 4.3 seconds, and the acceleration ability is no less than that of million-level supercars.
In addition, BBA's three main electric models are also lagging behind in the degree of intelligence, in addition to the newly remodeled BMW iX3, Audi e-tron equipped with ACC adaptive cruise, lane keeping and other functions, in tesla, Xiaopeng automatic navigation assistance driving system is simply vulnerable.
When Tesla and the new forces integrate all functions and physical buttons into the smart big screen, the BMW iX3 still retains the retro dashboard and gear, whether it is the concept of traditional or backward strength, naturally it is self-evident.
An Audi e-tron owner said: "This car is completely different from a fuel car." Indeed, these electric vehicles are all modified from the fuel version, the Audi e-tron looks like the Audi Q8, the Mercedes-Benz EQC looks similar to the Mercedes-Benz GLC, and the BMW iX3 and BMW X3 are copied and pasted.
In other words, BBA has created several electric models that are exactly the same as its own fuel vehicles, but it also tries to sell the price of luxury electric vehicles. How can such a shrewd young consumer easily "get out of the set"?
At the same price, BBA is no longer the first choice for young people. It is undeniable that from the logical point of view of luxury cars and fuel vehicles, Audi e-tron, Mercedes-Benz EQC, BMW iX3 are undoubtedly not excellent cars, but from the perspective of an electric vehicle, these models have no highlights in addition to the so-called BBA aura, even if the price is reduced by 10-200,000, it is still being beaten by the strength of the new forces, and even spit as a "high-end old scooter".
Whether it is mileage, acceleration performance or intelligence, BBA's electric vehicles are completely behind Tesla and a number of new power brands. For contemporary young people, this is precisely their unanimous pursuit of electric vehicles.
Compared with a driving sense that tends to be close to a fuel car, the mileage does not have an advantage, and the price is still very high, young people are more inclined to bring the ultimate driving experience of the new force, BBA's luxury brand totem glory is no longer glorious.
From transportation to street toys, the large-scale popularization of cars has refreshed the user's value evaluation standards for electric vehicles, when the Z generation has gradually become the main force of the automobile market, the so-called luxury car brand aura, luxury totem has gradually been replaced by the ultimate sense of experience. The era of BBA unification is no longer there.
Hindsight? The product of the "manufacture" of oil to electricity
To say that the BBA can't beat Tesla? Some people may cry out for them: BBA electrification started late, the current three products are just a transition, and the real strength army has not yet appeared!
However, in fact, BBA is not an hindsight in the new energy vehicle market. The three BBA companies have entered the field of new energy very early.
In 2007, the third year of Tesla's establishment, BMW has launched the "Project i" project, began to mass production as the goal of new energy vehicles to build, in 2009, Mercedes-Benz and BYD set up the Denza brand, the target of the electric vehicle market, to Tesla launched a challenge.
Not to be outdone, Audi also released its first electric concept, the Audi e-tron, in the same year.
In 2010, Mercedes-Benz tried to test the electrification of its Smart, and then it was not until 2019 that it launched a new electric vehicle sub-brand EQ, launching the first mass-produced electric vehicle Model Mercedes-Benz EQC.
In 2011, BMW's new energy sub-brand "BMW i" also laid the image of a pure electric "forerunner", but it has been stuck in the status quo of "oil to electricity" since the advent of i3 and i8.
Obviously, the BBA's new energy awareness and layout is not late, and even once huddled together to "encircle" Tesla, but the three giants eventually lost.
Tesla entered the Chinese market in April 2012, and it took only 8 years to become a benchmark in the new energy market, and it also became the first new energy vehicle company with a positive gross profit margin at that time.
Weilai and Xiaopeng, which were established in 2014, also completed the "100,000 sales mark" on the occasion of the 6th anniversary, even in the face of global chip shortage, Weilai and Xiaopeng can still maintain stable sales of monthly sales of more than 10,000.
Compared with Tesla and new power brands, BBA has too many poppies to consider on the road to research and development. We cannot give up the existing fuel vehicle business market, and we have to respond to the wave of new energy and intelligent era that has swept in. The new energy market is also in the BBA's hesitation, gradually divided by Tesla and new forces.
In the era of fuel vehicles BBA's advanced technology, powertrain patents and other core competitiveness are insurmountable, BBA's advantage lies in the "engine and gearbox", for fuel vehicles, the power system is good, the performance is good, the car is worth selling more expensive, but for the new energy era, the motor can provide ordinary engine + transmission assembly can not be compared with the low-speed segment acceleration, and the advantages of BBA can not be completely copied to electric vehicles, so only rely on the high premium and competitiveness generated by power, Obviously, it is also difficult to really gain a foothold in the field of electric vehicles.
As a traditional car company, BBA is currently unable to devote itself to the three core research and development of "battery, motor and electronic control" in the field of new energy with a new look, so BBA pure electric is not able to compete with Tesla and a number of new car-making forces at this stage.
At this stage, the electric road of BBA is still stuck in the transition stage of "oil to electricity", and the current main models Mercedes-Benz EQC, BMW ix3, and Audi e-tron are also pure electric products that accelerate the transformation after the conservative period, and are built based on a mature pure electric platform.
But the embarrassing thing is that whether it is Mercedes-Benz EQC or BMW iX3, there was a recall incident shortly after the listing, not only did not show the reliable strength of the old OEMs, but also smeared the original good image.
As the founder of Xiaopeng Motors said: "Manufacturing is not at all the core key element of a traditional car company or a new car company, it is only one of the basic elements, so talk about manufacturing, talk about intelligence, dry or traditional." "BBA's current pure electricity camp is obviously only the product of oil to electricity "manufacturing", which is naturally uncompetitive for the new energy market.
The editor has something to say:
The current new energy market is still a vast blue ocean, and for BBA, if you want to regain the market in the electric vehicle market, the top priority is the construction of pure electric platforms.
Can the BBA, which has funds and talents, seize the window period of the transition from the fuel era to new energy, accelerate the layout of new energy, and continue the traditional advantages to turn defeat into victory? Or continue to be obsessed, stuck in their own ways, and further opened up by Tesla and the new forces? It's all suspense, but the only thing that's certain is that there's not much time left for the BBA.