BMW has Jaguar Land Rover disease, the 180,000 yuan i3 broke the hearts of Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche

Among the new energy vehicle models launched by Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi, are there any that can compete?

If we look at it from the perspective of product performance, it can be said that there is not a single one that can compete; but if we look at it from the perspective of sales, some models are still good, and the BMW i3 is one of them.

The cumulative sales of BMW i3 last year reached 53,000 units, with an average monthly sales of nearly 5,000 units, and this performance continued in 2024. This result is not bad even in the Chinese new energy market that is rolling out to the sky.

However, how was this achievement achieved?

Before Cybertron delegated its technology to Earth, the answer could only be to trade price for volume, that is, to lower prices.

Recently, there have been reports that the starting price of the BMW i3 has dropped to around 180,000 yuan. Compared with the official guide price of 353,900-413,900 yuan, the price has been cut in half.

The BMW i3 currently on sale is an old model that was launched in September last year. In the past six months or so, China's new energy market has seen several price cuts, so the price cut of the BMW i3 is not as exaggerated as it appears on paper. It's just that BMW is a luxury brand in the memory of Chinese people, and selling cars at half the price still sounds a bit scary. The last time a brand was destroyed in this way was Jaguar Land Rover, the so-called "50% off for Leopard and 70% off for Tiger".

Luxury brands generally don't discount easily, because once they suffer from the "Jaguar Land Rover disease", there is basically no turning back. Land Rover still has large SUVs to support it, but look at Jaguar, it has become a weapon for young people in urban and rural fringe areas to pick up girls.

BMW is helpless and feels very bitter. The i3 is actually a good product and is a top-notch product in Europe. Unfortunately, in the Chinese market, with the performance of the i3 and a starting price of 353,900 yuan, there are a lot of products that can replace it and beat it.

Like Porsche, the i3, which is weak in product strength, is left with only a LOGO. This is the only reason why it can maintain monthly sales of 4,000+ after the price cut.

However, this result is already the upper limit of the i3, and it is unlikely to break through further unless BMW and domestic brands set the price at 99,000 yuan including shipping.

It is common in the auto market for a main model to have poor sales. When automakers encounter this situation, they either accelerate the launch of a new model, launch some preferential activities, or simply withdraw the model from the market. There is nothing wrong with the BMW i3 trading price for volume.

But the core issue is that the i3 is a BMW, and having a fire sale at any time is a huge harm to the brand - how can you let those users who buy the BMW X5 or 740 let their cars speak for themselves?

If you buy an X5, your neighbor Wang will think you have made it; if you buy a 740, Cuihua at the town restaurant will naturally interact with you. But if you buy an i3, you have to speak for the car. Even though you bought it at a discount, you have to pretend to everyone, "Hey, I was wronged. I bought it at the highest price, more than 400,000, it's really not worth it."

In fact, at the other end, BMW's other new energy model, iX3, also relies on long-term discounts to increase sales. The latest news is that the Land Rover disease of i3 has quickly spread to X7 and 740, and both of these cars have seen huge price cuts of varying degrees.

This is obviously not what BMW should do. A luxury brand should have a price tag that reflects its value. Now models such as the i3 are directly 50% off, and the brand halo has suddenly dimmed. How BMW will sell cars in the future is really a big problem.

In addition, such a big price cut will also put BMW's other new energy models in a passive position. BMW is relatively active in developing new energy vehicles, and it already has a relatively complete new energy product lineup. However, the i3 has directly hit the floor, so how should other new energy models be priced? If this continues, BMW's high-end positioning will be diluted.

In this era, high-end attributes are BMW's only magic weapon for protection. Once lost, it is like a soldier losing his helmet.

If sales volume declines, it can still be saved; but if the brand is gone, it will be difficult to save it again. This is the basic rule of the automotive industry.

From the perspective of maintaining its brand value, BMW should immediately stop this fire sale, bring out truly competitive models, and re-establish its reputation for technology. As long as the luxury brand positioning is maintained, a turnaround is not impossible. However, from a practical point of view, this possibility is getting smaller and smaller. It is already the second half of 2024, and the elimination round of China's new energy vehicle market has begun.

In addition, from the perspective of maintaining the overall tone of German brands, BMW should also give up price cuts. Audi's crazy price cuts in the era of fuel vehicles have already pushed this brand into the brand sweeping range of the public. If BMW also follows the footsteps of its German compatriots, the remaining Mercedes-Benz and Porsche will really tremble in the corner - in fact, Mercedes-Benz has already secretly cut prices. Seeing such a price cut by BMW, the only one who is really heartbroken is Porsche. No brand can be separated from the country. Have you heard of any famous brand products in Zimbabwe that you are attracted to? Even if there are, you don't want them.

Cars are the towering trees that Germany has planted in the minds of the Chinese people. Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Porsche are the biggest fruits on this tree. Now they are falling one by one. The Chinese people's mysterious trust in German brands will inevitably lead to reflection, which will in turn affect their purchasing decisions.

The German car brand, in this midsummer with a temperature of 35 degrees Celsius, entered the bitter winter in a second.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.