Many people call the competition between traditional car companies and new power brands as a contest between "OG and upstarts", but I don't think so. The reason is very simple, after all, in the field of new energy, everyone is almost a blank piece of paper, just a "newcomer", even if the industry "old cannon" as strong as BMW, will still be wrapped up in the torrent of the times, passively participate in this cruel competition. Meeting new challenges is a problem that every traditional car company has to face at the moment, to put it more seriously, whether it can hand over a qualified answer sheet will even be directly related to life and death.
Although the BMW iX is not the brand's first electric model, it is really not the masterpiece of BMW's announcement into the era of electrification. BMW iX is equipped with many cutting-edge technologies and is BMW's "pioneer" in the field of new energy. There is no doubt that the BMW brand must have given high hopes for iX, and consumers are also full of expectations for what kind of products this luxury brand in the fuel era can offer in the field of new energy. At this moment, all eyes are focused on the BMW iX, and how strong is it in the end, can it take on this responsibility and live up to the expectations of all walks of life? This issue of the quality car will be interpreted in detail for you.
First, basic information and product highlights
BMW iX positions medium and large pure electric SUV, currently only launched a configuration model, priced at 846,900 yuan. As early as 2011, BMW demonstrated its forward-looking vision in the field of electrification through the i3 and i8 models. After the rise of the electrification wave, BMW launched the iX3 to seize the market, in contrast, bmw iX is more like a spiritual totem, marking BMW officially entered the era of electrification.
In terms of appearance, since the debut of the BMW iX, the discussion has never stopped. Li Tianyuan, the main designer of the BMW iX exterior, is from Sichuan, China, and the official said that the new car incorporates many oriental concepts and related elements in the design, which is one of the reasons why it is different from any existing BMW model. In general, the BMW iX is still highly restored to the overall design of the BMW iNext concept car, although it is a pure electric vehicle model, but the iconic "double kidney" grille on the front face is still retained, and the recognition is extremely high. The shape of the vehicle resembles a carefully polished boulder, which BMW calls "rough cutting", but the beauty or not is up to the table.
The details of the part, the seemingly bland Network is actually a lot of highlights, with the support of Shy Tech's invisible innovation technology, the structure of the Network hides many sensors inside, and the external panel adopts a special material that does not interfere with electromagnetic waves. The "black partition" on the surface of the central mesh is a heating device to prevent the panel from freezing or frosting in severe cold weather, affecting the sensor's work. In addition, the mid-mesh panel has also added a polyurethane coating, which has a certain self-healing ability and a full sense of technology.
As a future-oriented new energy vehicle, BMW iX attaches great importance to the concept of sustainable development. The center console is made of FSC-certified wood, the interior uses renewable materials in a large area, and even the tanning preparations needed for leather processing are organically synthesized through olive leaf extract, which is environmentally friendly and healthy.
The BMW iX is based on the Carbon Cage carbon cage frame, and it is also the first BMW model to use this structure, achieving a good balance between lightweight and strength. In addition to the extensive use of high-strength steels, aluminum alloys and composite materials, BMW iX has also made great progress in the application of carbon fiber technology, highlighting BMW's strong technical strength and innovation ability.
Second, product competitiveness analysis
BMW iX positioning in the large pure electric SUV, the same level, the same price of the competitors can almost be said to be no, Audi e-tron although it is the same level of model, but regardless of import or domestic version, the price is too far from the BMW iX, so the two comparison models selected this time are more or less a bit of "raw pull" taste. Among them, Porsche Taycan and BMW iX belong to the same camp, that is, the transformation products of traditional car companies under the trend of electrification, while Gaohe HiPhi X is a representative of high-end electric vehicles of new forces and a new brand bred by the times. If in terms of personal emotion and brand loyalty, BMW and Porsche will undoubtedly occupy a certain advantage, but with the continuous impact and challenge of new power brands, traditional brands must also complete the transformation as soon as possible, otherwise relying only on the reputation and dividends accumulated in the era of fuel vehicles is certainly not a long-term solution, and will eventually be eliminated by the market.
In terms of design, although the BMW iX integrates many new elements and innovative ideas, it still feels a bit tied, far less "open" than the Gaohe HiPhi X. In fact, Porsche Taycan also faces the same problem, after all, as a traditional luxury brand, there will always be many restrictions on product design. Among them, the most typical example is that BMW iX still failed to give up the "double kidney" grille, the advantage is that the brand classic can be continued, let people know that this is a BMW at a glance, but the disadvantage is that it is not innovative enough, and it has not broken the traditional barriers, which is a pro and con. Gaohe HiPhi X undoubtedly has an innate advantage in this regard, at least in the design does not have to consider so many factors, relatively free.
On the whole, if only the dimension of brand influence is considered, then traditional car companies such as BMW or Porsche will obviously still occupy a certain advantage in market competition. However, the advantages at this stage are only relative, and many consumers do not mind this at all. Although it is not the first pure electric vehicle launched by the brand, the BMW iX still feels a bit of a "front station" taste, and the overall posture does not look like a product ready to go. It is true that bmw iX is very fashionable in terms of application of new technologies and design concepts, but the high price is really difficult to say, and the configuration choice of the model at this stage is only this one, and there is really no advantage in terms of competitiveness.
Compared with the configuration, the overall performance of the BMW iX is decent, and it has not shown an absolute advantage. Of course, for this price and positioning of the product, the configuration level will not be too bad, but in terms of horizontal comparison, BMW iX does not have a strong attraction. As for the current intelligent and driver assistance systems generally emphasized by electric vehicles, I personally feel that the significance at this stage is not very large, mainly based on publicity and showmanship, and there is still a long way to go from the implementation of use. Realistically, at this stage, for a pure electric model, who has a longer mileage, faster charging, and lower battery loss is obviously a topic that can be more interesting to consumers, but subject to the current technical bottleneck of hardware, in fact, there is not much gap between car companies.
Third, product quality & service trend analysis
As BMW's new pure electric SUV model, will the BMW iX have the hidden danger of quality problems? Since the BMW iX is a brand new model, we will analyze the complaints of the BMW iX3 model with the same fifth-generation eDrive electric drive system as it has in the past year, for reference only.
Through the COMPLAINT data of BMW iX3 models for nearly a year, it can be found that the fault problem is mainly concentrated in the "power battery failure", most of which are concentrated on the 2021 model, although the follow-up 2022 model also has complaints about the power battery failure, but the number has dropped sharply to single digits, which shows that BMW manufacturers have optimized the problem in a timely manner. Since the BMW iX is a brand new model, it can be considered that the probability of the above problems is low for the time being, but the actual situation will not be conclusive until it is listed for a period of time.
With the continuous development of China's automobile market, the level of brand pre-sales/after-sales service, the quality of the purchase experience has gradually become an important factor affecting consumers' final purchase. Therefore, based on the massive big data of the vehicle quality network, we will analyze the service problems that have prevailed in brands or car series in the past year to provide a more objective reference for consumers to purchase models.
We will analyze the service problem complaints of the BMW iX3 in the past year. By screening the BMW iX3 complaint data, it can be found that the service complaint problem only appears in the two complaint points of "attitude is arbitrary" and "no spare parts", and the number is 1 case, which is not excluded as a case, which shows that the performance of the BMW brand in after-sales service is worthy of recognition.
In terms of measuring the reputation of new car after-sales service, we will analyze the response of enterprises to car owners' complaints, and relatively objectively predict the future after-sales service reputation of new cars. According to the data of the car quality network, the complaint response rate of bmw brand models in the past year is 97.01%, which shows that the manufacturer's attention to the owner's appeal is still relatively high.
Fourth, after-sales service policy and network distribution
According to the official website information, BMW Financial/Leasing Services provides a wide range of products, users can choose the corresponding loan/leasing products according to their own needs, in addition to multiple customer benefits and care benefits. However, for the specific content of the BMW iX model is not yet available, the specific conditions and scope of application, please consult the local BMW authorized dealer, subject to official information.
After the purchase of the vehicle, it is bound to involve the daily maintenance of the vehicle, at which time the number and distribution of the brand dealer stores are very important, and even have a certain impact on whether consumers buy the brand model. According to the statistics of the vehicle quality network, BMW (import) currently has a total of 641 dealer stores in China, covering 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, of which Zhejiang, Guangdong and Jiangsu have a relatively large number of dealers. Overall, BMW (import) dealers have a wide range of distribution, and the total amount has also reached the first echelon of mainstream import brands, and the performance is satisfactory.
summary
Objectively speaking, although the BMW iX has a lot of halos on its head and shoulders the heavy trust and expectations of the BMW brand, I think it may not be particularly amazing in terms of product influence and its future market performance. In particular, the high price, niche positioning, and the personality and controversial design will have a less positive impact on the BMW iX. However, fortunately, the living environment in this level and price range is still quite good, and the competitive pressure is very small, so the BMW iX is not without the opportunity and possibility of becoming a blockbuster. After all, good villains are also a traditional luxury brand that has succeeded in the era of fuel vehicles, bmw's comprehensive strength is beyond doubt, and the performance of BMW iX is very worth looking forward to.