Author | Nie Yiyao
Produced by Automotive Grand View
Public data shows that from January to May 2022, among the domestic high-end car market's 250,000-400,000 yuan models, the one that won the first place in sales in this price range is: Tes Pulled Model Y (82,169 units, a year-on-year increase of 134.8%).
is followed by the second place BMW 3 Series (62,357 units, a year-on-year decrease of 24.8%); the third place Audi A4 (52,304 units, a year-on-year decrease of 25.3%); the fourth place Mercedes-Benz C-Class ( 49,704 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 34.5%).
In the price range of 400,000-500,000 yuan, among the top ten sales models, only Weilai ES6, which ranked tenth in sales, maintained positive growth. Others such as BMW 5 Series , BMW X3, Mercedes-Benz GLC, Mercedes-Benz E-class , Audi Q5, Audi A6, as well as Lexus ES, Lexus RX, Volvo XC60, are all experiencing varying degrees of sales decline.
The data undoubtedly gives a real signal. In the two price ranges of 250,000-400,000 yuan and 400,000-500,000 yuan, which have the largest share of the high-end car market, electric vehicles are accelerating to occupy the territory of fuel vehicles, and new forces are constantly snatching traditional luxury. Brand market share, including BBA, is not immune. As highly popular and topical new energy products like the Ideal L9 join the 400,000-500,000 yuan camp, the battle for share between old and new luxury brands will intensify in the future.
At the same time, the sales volume of traditional luxury brand electric models in the corresponding price range cannot be achieved. So the question is, as the top three traditional luxury brands, how should BBA resist the growing threat of new forces? With the irreversible trend of electrification change, how to switch tracks smoothly and continue the success of the old era on the new track as much as possible?
This question is actually quite difficult to answer. The future is promising but unpredictable. The three giants of the BBA are all crossing the river by feeling their own stones, and there is no unified answer or methodology. The only thing that is the same is "need and want": not only should we upgrade automobile consumption and add fuel vehicles to the dividend period when fuel vehicles are still the mainstream of consumption, but not miss every drop of fuel vehicle dividends; we should also take into account the future popularity of electric vehicles and do our best to do so. Good layout for timely access to new tracks.
However, the goal of "both wanting and wanting" is very clear, but it is not easy to achieve. At present, BBA's approach of transferring old brands to electric vehicle products in the hope that electric vehicle products will inherit the luxury attributes and brand premium of fuel vehicles has not been recognized by domestic consumers.
Under the guidance of new forces, domestic consumers are more willing to believe that the luxury of a new category of electric vehicles should not be defined by the leaders of the old order, but should have more possibilities and openness.
This may be a reality that BBA and other traditional luxury brands did not expect, but have to accept. However, asking BBA to abandon the existing brand premium and fuel vehicle dividends to build a new electric brand goes against the goal of "both want and want", at least for now. What to do with
? BMW seems to have found its own way.
Guangjiliang, Slowly Becoming King
On June 23, 2022, BMW held an online press conference to announce the official opening of the Lida factory, a model for the implementation of the "BMW iFACTORY production strategy" in China.
Lida Factory is a green ecological factory built by BMW in the Chinese market after Dadong Factory and Tiexi Factory with a total investment of 15 billion yuan.
The so-called "BMW iFACTORY production strategy" is a concept proposed by the BMW Group at its annual financial report meeting in March this year. It represents BMW's production strategic vision: lean, green and digital.
Lean stands for efficiency, precision and high flexibility, as well as the ability to integrate different drive technologies and vehicle architectures into production. From BMW's perspective, this is a key factor in its successful transformation.
Green refers to production through the most advanced technology, minimal resource consumption and a circular economy model.
Digitalization represents the use of data science and artificial intelligence in production, and the integration of the real world and the virtual world in planning and development.
This press conference is obviously BMW’s intention to let the outside world see its highly flexible, flexible and sustainable production capabilities.
At the Lida factory, the production structure is very flexible. Not only can it achieve up to 100% of electric vehicle production capacity, but it can also realize co-line production of different drive modes and different models. This flexibility not only allows BMW's new models and derivatives to be integrated faster and delivery times further shortened, it also allows customers to change certain configuration elements of their cars up to six days before the vehicle is produced.
In the Lida factory, 100% renewable electricity is used; sponge city system collects rainwater, nourishes more than 11,000 different types of trees and 7,500 square meters of gardens in the factory area, and also replenishes groundwater. This approach is in line with BMW's previous goal of "reducing average bicycle life cycle carbon emissions by 40% by 2030 compared with 2019, including an 80% reduction in carbon emissions at the production level."
BMW also used the "industrial metaverse" model to integrate the virtual world with the real world to plan, design and simulate the Lida factory. It also allows Chinese employees and German headquarters employees to work together in the " metaverse " to achieve cross-regional and cross-time zone collaboration, saving time and costs.
At this press conference, Gaulle, President and CEO of BMW Group Greater China, emphasized BMW’s electric travel strategy and the important role of the Rida plant in accelerating the BMW brand’s electric transformation in the Chinese market.
Since BMW has a strong brand and technical strength, it is a benchmark enterprise in global automobile manufacturing technology. It has such advanced and outstanding production plants in China, its own digital service company in China, and its own R&D network. It also has its own R&D network in Shenyang. Battery assembly line, etc.
So why doesn’t BMW like the new forces on the road to electrification without hesitation and speed up? But to this day, they are still working hard, maintaining the pace of accumulating food and slowly becoming king?
This involves another story.
In fact, it is also a helpless move
To sum up, BMW started very early in the research and development of electric vehicles, starting in the 1970s.
In 2013, BMW launched its first pure electric model BMW i3 and plug-in hybrid model BMW i8. The two models were not only born ahead of most new forces, but the battery energy density also exceeded the Tesla Model S at the time. The cockpit is made of carbon fiber and supports 3G Internet of Vehicles.
The BMW i3 is hailed as the benchmark for the electrification transformation of traditional car companies. In the three years from 2014 to 2016, the BMW i3 ranked among the top three in global new energy vehicle sales.
However, the unclear prospects of electric vehicles at that time and the pressure on companies to achieve profitability made BMW's former CEO Krug no longer vigorously develop electric vehicles during his tenure, but advocated a " flexible " production model.
Krueger believes that we should not put all our eggs in the pure electric basket, but should flexibly deploy diversified driving modes such as internal combustion engines, hybrids, and pure electric vehicles.
With Krueger stepping down and Zipser taking over, the flexible production model and the goal of "both wanting and wanting" were inherited.
This can be seen from the words of Gao Le, President and CEO of BMW Group Greater China, and BMW’s electrification strategy.
Gao Le once said: "It is expected that China's new energy vehicles will account for 25-28% in 2025, which means that 75% of the market is not new energy vehicles.Even by 2030, the proportion of new energy vehicles may reach 50%-60%, but 40% of the market will still be non-new energy vehicles. Therefore, BMW will consider both fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles. ”
BMW’s electrification strategy can be regarded as a staged and progressive strategy in the short, medium and long term.
In the short term (2022-2025), BMW proposes the concept of “power of choice” to provide consumers with internal combustion engines in the same car , plug-in hybrid and pure electric options.
In the mid-term (2025-2030), BMW plans to launch a "new generation" model with a pure electric architecture, while gradually increasing the proportion of pure electric vehicles to 50% in the long term (after 2030), some of its brands. Completely pure electrification, supplemented by hydrogen fuel cell as a zero-emission supplement, but there will still be a certain proportion of internal combustion engine models
This determines that BMW cannot look back and rush forward on the road to electrification like new forces. We need to stand at a higher perspective, balance the development of fuel vehicles to new energy vehicles, and ultimately achieve the successful transition of intelligent connected vehicles , balancing many practical issues such as corporate sustainable development, the Chinese market and the global market.
In Gao Le's words. Said: “To succeed in such a field of intelligent connected cars, we need to have multiple capabilities. This is a marathon. If you are recognized as the leader within 5 kilometers, it does not mean that you can win the final victory. ”
Do you pay for BMW electric cars?
According to BMW’s electrification strategy, 2025 will be the outbreak time of “new generation” models under BMW’s new pure electric architecture. BMW’s “new generation” models based on new architecture Trial production will also begin in 2024 and debut in 2025.
The real competition between BMW and new forces competing for its market share will begin at that time.
By then, consumers will have grown up under a sustainable economic model. Will the luxury electric car brand BMW pay for it? What kind of competition will the new forces represented by Tesla and the luxury brand electric cars represented by BBA
This is a question worth looking forward to. In the past few years, new forces have continued to enrich the electric vehicle category with innovative and cutting-edge products, and have also attracted a large number of domestic consumers who are seeking innovation and change. In contrast, traditional car companies have suffered from a lack of innovative and cutting-edge electric vehicle products. The new energy track has been left out.
However, new forces also have weaknesses. The brand is young and the accumulation is not deep. Profitability problems are also hindering the development of new forces. Will the market and consumers continue to be optimistic about the new forces and invest real money to help them? The development is not yet known.
The weakness of new forces is exactly where BBA’s traditional luxury brands, including BMW, can attack.
However, as the competition on the electrification track becomes more intense and changes become more rapid, BBA can. Failure to enter the market at that time with a new electric brand image that surprises consumers may be the key to success.
