Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi new energy vehicles have dropped their prices, and the "five-fold horse" has been swiped

New Yellow River

2024-06-06 06:49Published on the official account of Shandong New Yellow River News Client

In the luxury car circle, there has always been a saying of "seven-fold tiger (Land Rover) and six-fold leopard (Jaguar)", but recently "five-fold horse (BMW)" has frequently swiped the screen, which has attracted attention.

BBA (Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi), which is located upstream of luxury brands, also participates in the discount? The reporter went to a BMW 4S store in Beijing on the 5th, and a salesperson said that there was indeed such a thing. The original price of the new energy vehicle BMW i3 is 353,900 yuan, and the current vehicle price is 175,000 yuan, but you need to apply for an installment loan to pick up the car at this price.

During the visit, the reporter learned that among the three luxury brands of BBA, in addition to BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi's new energy models also have significant discounts, and the range can easily reach six or seven discounts. Among them, the original price of more than 310,000 yuan of Audi Q4 is now quoted at less than 200,000 yuan; The Mercedes-Benz EQE, which originally cost more than 530,000 yuan, is now quoted at about 370,000 yuan.

Data map: BMW brand 4S store. Photo by China News Financial Reporter Ge Cheng

Consumer attitudes are mixed

"It's not that the 210,000 Xiaomi SU7 can't afford it, but the 170,000 BMW i3 is more cost-effective!" The reporter noticed that after the entry of "BMW cut in half" rushed to the hot search, the different attitudes shown by the relevant comments were quite interesting. Some consumers think, "The price of luxury cars has been greatly reduced, and it should be rushed!" Some consumers ridiculed, "Don't worry, BBA is becoming a reality." ”

Ms. Bai, the owner of the car, told reporters that she is currently driving a domestic brand new energy vehicle and is planning to change the car. After learning that BBA has cut prices significantly, she is hesitant, worried about whether the value of the luxury car brand will shrink significantly as a result. "I used to think that buying a luxury car was more expensive for the car logo, but now the car logo is not worth much, so it is better to buy a domestic brand."

"Since the i3 price cut, sales have really increased significantly." According to the sales staff of the BMW 4S store, after the news of BMW's price cut spread, several trams that no one cared about in the store before the price reduction instantly became the focus, before the price reduction, BMW i's sales in March were about single digits, and after the price reduction, nearly 30 cars were sold in the store in a month.

The salesperson also said that in addition to the BMW i3, a number of BMW's new energy vehicles, including the ix3 and i5, also have significant discounts, and the range is generally more than 100,000 yuan. Comparatively speaking, the discount range of fuel vehicles such as the 3 Series and 5 Series in the store is generally lower than that of new energy vehicles, and the attraction to consumers is not as high as that of new energy vehicles.

At the beginning of the year, we had a batch of low-to-medium new energy vehicles EQE sold for 260,000 yuan, and they were sold out quickly. Now if you want to buy, you can only try your luck in the second-hand market. A Mercedes-Benz 4S store sales staff told reporters that consumers' car purchase decisions often depend on the strength of discounts, and large discounts and fast sales are common phenomena.

According to Zhang Xiang, a researcher at the Automotive Industry Innovation Research Center of North China University of Technology and director of the International Cooperation Research Center for Vodaf Digital Vehicles, BBA's sharp price reduction of its new energy vehicles is a "double-edged sword". It may be possible to reduce inventory in a short period of time, but it will inevitably damage the brand value.

"Many consumers who recognize new energy vehicles are 'post-80s' and 'post-90s', and their brand loyalty to BBA is not high." Zhang Xiang further explained that in their hearts, new energy vehicles like Tesla, BYD and other brands have better technology and more weight, and discounts may not necessarily impress such consumers.

The quotation provided by the sales staff of the 4S store. Photo by China News Financial Reporter Ge Cheng

"The competition is just too fierce"

Talking about the reason for the discount, a number of BBA sales staff told reporters that the current market competition is too fierce. Although the main business of the store relies on fuel vehicles, the proportion of the new energy market is getting higher and higher, and from car companies, dealers to front-line sales personnel, they are all facing transformation pressure. "The tram field is relatively volatile, and it is difficult for the head luxury brand to gain a foothold."

Different brands are also "fighting openly and secretly" through subsidies and price reductions. A number of 4S store sales staff, including BBA, told reporters that on May 26, Beijing had just allocated nearly 60,000 family new energy passenger car indicators, and the store immediately launched the corresponding subsidies to compete for the "winning" prospective car owners, with subsidies ranging from 3,000 yuan to 5,000 yuan.

Some salespeople admit that compared with new energy brands such as Xiaomi and Tesla that have built their own factories, it is indeed difficult to persuade customers to buy BBA's new energy vehicles. However, compared with some "new car-making forces" that focus on the OEM model, traditional car companies like BBA still have the recognition of some consumers by adopting their own factory production mode.

At the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, Xiaomi's booth was surrounded by visitors. Photo by China News Financial Reporter Ge Cheng

Behind it is the rapid rise of Chinese brands

Behind the competition, the changes in the automotive industry are also worth paying attention to. It is clear that the phenomenon of "trade-off" between joint venture brands, including BBA, and Chinese brands has become a long-term trend in the industry.

According to the data, from 2021 to 2023, the market share of Chinese auto brand passenger cars will reach 44.4%, 49.9%, and 56% respectively, with steady growth. In the first quarter of 2024, the sales volume of Chinese brand passenger cars reached 3.392 million units, a year-on-year increase of 26.4%, and the market share reached 59.6%, an increase of 7.4 percentage points year-on-year.

During the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, the booths of traditional luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi are no longer overcrowded, while the booths of Chinese brands such as BYD and Xiaomi are crowded, and even attract many foreign exhibitors.

For this trend, Xu Haidong, deputy chief engineer of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said in an interview that the market share of Chinese brands has continued to develop in the past two years, the main reason is the understanding of consumer demand and the improvement of their own product strength, while joint venture car companies are slow to respond in this regard, and started a little late in intelligent networking.

However, he believes that this does not mean that there is no room for development in the Chinese market. Joint ventures are giving full play to the role of China's supply chain and actively expanding into the Chinese market.

Source: Chinanews.com

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