Produced the "New Horizons" in-depth reporting team Phoenix Network Technology
Author | Wang Xin
Edit | Zhao Ze
Core Tips: 1. The high-end electric vehicle Mercedes-Benz EQC400 under luxury brand Mercedes-Benz was exposed to quality problems. Some users said that motor failures occurred less than 4 months after picking up the car, and similar situations are not uncommon, "100 riders in the 300-person Mercedes-Benz EQC400 rider group have motor failures." ” 2. The BMW ix3 is also questioned. In the past week, there have been 53 complaints about the performance of high-voltage batteries, power battery system failures, and transmission system failures. 3. Many BMW ix3 owners are puzzled that the model has a large number of failures, why did BMW not publicly recall, but "sneakily" replace and repair for the owner? 4. Mercedes-Benz EQC and BMW ix3 have one thing in common, both of which are not from a new electric vehicle research and development platform, but a "modification" using a fuel vehicle platform. Industry insiders believe that the design of many places for oil to electricity is unreasonable and will sacrifice a certain degree of reliability.
The new energy vehicles of Mercedes-Benz and BMW have become "real pits"?
"Hopefully, no one will get into the pit of the Mercedes-Benz EQC." Mr. Huang, who bought the Mercedes-Benz EQC400 in September last year, broke his heart.
Pictured: Screenshot of the car owner complaining about the Mercedes-Benz EQC on the social platform.
Mr. Huang recently complained on the social platform that the Mercedes-Benz EQC400 he purchased had a motor failure after less than 4 months of use, and the car was paralyzed on the spot, and after contacting the 4S shop for repair, he was told that the motor needed to be replaced.
Less than half a year after the replacement of the motor, the car failed again, and after maintenance, the cause of the failure was battery, circuit board and other "electricity" related problems.
(Pictured: Screenshot of the car owner complaining about Mercedes-Benz EQC on the social platform.) ）
Mr. Huang said that his encounter was not "an isolated case", "100 of the 300-person Mercedes-Benz EQC400 riders had motor failures. ”
Mercedes-Benz customer service told Phoenix Technology that they do not know much about the specific after-sales situation of EQC models, Mercedes-Benz does not have a national unified after-sales hotline, if the owner encounters problems need to be after-sales, you can contact the dealer, and the solution can be obtained after the vehicle inspection.
Also hurt are bmw "pure electric vehicle" owners.
On the vehicle quality network platform, there are car owners who complain that the BMW ix3, which has only been picked up for more than 2 months, has a high-voltage battery quality defect problem, but BMW did not recall it "brightly", but notified the owner to replace the battery in the store on the grounds of "technology upgrade".
(Pictured: Car quality online car owner complains about BMW ix3 battery failure.) ）
The owner wants BMW to give a reasonable explanation. In this regard, Phoenix Technology contacted BMW's official customer service hotline to verify the situation, customer service said that some BMW ix3 may indeed have battery module problems, but it is not clear the specific batch, it is recommended that the owner contact the dealer to check, if there is a problem can provide "upgrade service".
"Mercedes-Benz and BMW's electric vehicles are 'oil to electricity', not a newly developed electric vehicle platform, this development idea has drawbacks, if you want to do a good job of electric vehicles, you must weigh in performance and reliability." Zhang Xiang, an independent auto analyst, told Phoenix.com.
In the user's impression, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, as a century-old German company, are not only representatives of luxury cars, but also play a high-quality image. However, the repeated quality problems of electric vehicles are hurting the trust of consumers and eating back the reputation of Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
Mercedes-Benz and BMW are "leading big brothers" in the fuel vehicle market, but in the electric vehicle market, they have become "difficult brothers and difficult brothers".
The Mercedes-Benz EQC is Mercedes-Benz's first pure electric vehicle, launched at the end of 2019. The BMW ix3 is BMW's first all-electric SUV, launched a year later than the Mercedes-Benz EQC. The similarity between the two is that no new electric vehicle platform has been developed, but the platform of the oil car is used for "modification".
According to the analysis of many industry insiders, the professional electric vehicle platform, the battery installation location will be specially designed, and the space in the car is relatively comfortable, but the model of oil to electricity may have problems such as insufficient battery pack space, irregular battery installation, and crowded space in the car.
"Oil to electricity is not a new design for electric vehicles, in order to improve performance and attract consumers, many details of the modification is not reasonable, but also at the expense of a certain degree of reliability." Zhang Xiang said.
(Pictured: On April 19, 2021, the new Mercedes-Benz EQC was unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show.) ）
Perhaps it is the lack of genes for the development of "electric vehicles", or the drawbacks of "oil to electricity", in short, Mercedes-Benz EQC, BMW ix3 have frequent failures after listing, and even many public recalls.
At the beginning of November this year, Mercedes-Benz recalled approximately 19,000 Mercedes-Benz EQC models manufactured between December 11, 2019 and May 18, 2020 overseas. The reason for the recall is that the harness of the vehicle's steering system may have been damaged during assembly, and there may be a potential for steering assistance system failure during use.
In August this year, Beijing Benz filed a recall with the State Administration for Market Regulation to recall about 800 EQC models. The reason for the recall is that some vehicles cannot be identified and checked after assembly, and the status of the condensate hose of the air conditioner cannot be ensured, resulting in the possibility of condensate entering the crew compartment and corroding the electronic components.
The BMW ix3 has also been questioned. In the past week, there have been 53 complaints about the performance of high-voltage batteries, power battery system failures, and transmission system failures.
Some car owners complained on the car quality network, "The new purchase of a tram needs to be dismantled and replaced a set of high-voltage battery battery units, not the manufacturer's initiative to notify, need to take the initiative to go to the store to inquire, do not put human life in mind, ah, I hope that the manufacturer as soon as possible to give a statement and solution." ”
Many car owners have questioned BMW's approach: the battery cell, as the main component of the new energy vehicle, has failed in large quantities, why did BMW not publicly recall, but "sneakily" replace and repair for the owner?
"Under normal circumstances, if there is a problem with the battery of the new energy vehicle, the car company should issue a recall notice at the first time and extend the warranty time of the car." If the car company 'sneaks' to change the battery, it is a violation of the car quality laws and regulations, which will seriously damage the interests of consumers. Zhang Xiang said.
BMW ix3 owners who cannot wait for a reasonable explanation can only denounce it on complaint websites and car forums.
The performance is doubtful and the product sincerity is insufficient, which reflects the brand advantages established by Mercedes-Benz and BMW for a long time.
At the time of listing, the BMW iX3 was priced at a high end, with the leading version priced at 469,900 and the high-end price at 509,900. Judging from the listing price, BMW is still the "BMW".
However, in the two months of listing, monthly sales were only 172 units and 637 units. The BMW iX3, which has experienced market beatings, can only "bow its head". On January 27, 2021, four months after the new car was listed, BMW officially announced a price reduction of 70,000 yuan and promised to "make up the difference" for customers who bought expensive.
(Photo: BMW's pure electric vehicle BMW iX3.) ）
Not only the official price reduction, dealers will continue to discount in the sales process, and the BMW leading version in some regions only needs 330,000 yuan to hand, which is 70% off compared with the listed pricing.
The price fell darkly, fell again and again, and the sales of bmw iX3 only improved slightly. In the first three quarters of this year, the BMW iX3 sold a total of 13,600 vehicles, but there is a big gap with "Wei Xiaoli".
According to the financial report data, the cumulative delivery volume of WEILAI in the first three quarters was 66,400 vehicles, the cumulative delivery of Xiaopeng was 56,400 vehicles, and the ideal cumulative delivery was 55,200 vehicles.
Bmw iX3 "lost face" in the new energy vehicle market, and Mercedes-Benz EQC's life is not good. At the end of 2019, when Mercedes-Benz released EQC, it said that it would come up with the best posture that Mercedes-Benz has inherited for 133 years.
At present, Mercedes-Benz EQC has been on the market for two years and has not been widely recognized by the market. According to public data, in the first three quarters of 2021, the cumulative sales volume of Mercedes-Benz EQC in the world was 17,900 units.
In the domestic market, mercedes-benz EQC sales are even more dismal. According to media disclosures, in the first three quarters of 2021, the cumulative sales of Mercedes-Benz EQC were only 3791 units, and the monthly sales volume was only more than 400 units, and in September this year, the sales of Mercedes-Benz EQC were only 94 units.
The "first electric vehicle" of Mercedes-Benz and BMW is being crushed by "Wei Xiaoli".
Late power, performance is doubtful, sales are dismal, on the new energy track, Mercedes-Benz, BMW from "head" to "waist" below.
TrendForce Jibang Consulting released a research report that in the first three quarters of 2021, global pure electric vehicle (BEV) sales reached 2.92 million units, an annual growth rate of 153%. The growth rate of the global new energy vehicle market is obvious.
According to the financial report, in the third quarter of this year, BMW's electric vehicle sales were 59,700 units, accounting for only 2% of the total share; Mercedes-Benz's pure electric model sold 19,000 units in the third quarter, accounting for only 0.65% of the total share; and the market share of the first tesla (Tesla) has reached 21.5%.
From a domestic point of view, in the world's largest and fastest-growing new energy vehicle market, Mercedes-Benz and BMW are also unsatisfactory.
In October this year, the retail sales of new energy passenger cars reached 321,000 units, an increase of 141.1% year-on-year, the penetration rate reached 18.8%, and the production of new energy vehicles increased by 127.9% year-on-year.
According to the data of the Association, in October this year, the top few new energy sales were Wuling Hongguang, Tesla, BYD, Ideal, Xiaopeng and other models, and the electric vehicle models of Mercedes-Benz and BMW did not make it to the top 15.
As an important market for passenger cars in the world, Mercedes-Benz and BMW must adapt to market changes and exert efforts to develop new energy tracks.
Mercedes-Benz previously announced that it will accelerate the implementation of the "all-electric" strategy in 2021 and will be on the new two pure electric SUVs, EQA and EQB, as well as the first large luxury pure electric sedan EQS.
(Pictured: Mercedes-Benz EQS model.) ）
BMW is clearly feeling the pressure as well. BMW Group Chief Financial Officer Nicolas Peter recently shouted that bmw group sales expect electric vehicle sales to double in 2022 and plan to increase the price of all new cars by 1%.
Whether the declaration will become a reality is unpredictable. But the car is related to travel safety, traditional car companies to force new energy, in addition to brand marketing, but also have to make more efforts in product strength.