In 2021, BMW delivered a total of 846,200 vehicles in China, winning the sales championship of the high-end car market with a "big score" advantage. Since 2019, BMW has received this prestigious award for three consecutive years. Mercedes-Benz and Audi, on the other hand, sold 758,900 units and 701,300 units, respectively, both down slightly. As a result, the BBA changed from going hand in hand to a stepped distribution, and the gap between the head and tail of the team widened to nearly 150,000 vehicles.
BBA's ranking in the Chinese market is in line with global performance. In 2021, BMW won the annual sales volume of the global luxury car brand with a record of 2.214 million units. It was also the first time since 2015 that BMW beat Mercedes. Mercedes-Benz and Audi sold 2.055 million units and 1.6805 million units worldwide, respectively, both down slightly year-on-year.
"The domestic auto market looks at luxury cars, and the luxury car market looks at Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi (BBA)." In the past few years, in the context of the overall downturn in the auto market, BBA has bucked the trend and continued to set new sales records. In 2021, when the "lack of core" shrouded, the luxury car market continued to rise, with cumulative sales of 3.472 million units, achieving two year-on-year growth. In contrast, the BBA has diverged, and BMW continues to grow; Mercedes-Benz and Audi declined slightly.
Yesterday (January 12), BMW released data showing that in 2021, a total of 846,200 BMW and MINI cars were delivered in China, an increase of 8.9% year-on-year, and won the sales champion of the high-end car market with a "big score" advantage. Since 2019, BMW has received this prestigious award for three consecutive years. Mercedes-Benz and Audi sold 758,900 units and 701,300 units, respectively, down 2% and 3.6%. As a result, the BBA changed from going hand in hand to a stepped distribution, and the gap between the head and tail of the team widened to nearly 150,000 vehicles.
"In 2021, the luxury car market will continue to maintain its structural stability characteristics, and the high-end exchange demand that reflects consumption upgrading is still strong, and the market competition will have little impact." Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Association, said that the BBA gap is gradually widening, mainly because BMW is more aggressive in terms of youth and electrification, and whether Audi can catch up mainly depends on the overall electrification process of the Volkswagen Group.
Looking back at the whole year, BMW has long been in the BBA battle to win the championship. In the first quarter, BMW surpassed Mercedes-Benz by more than 7,000 vehicles, and its growth rate of 97.3% also showed great potential for development; In the second quarter, BMW expanded its advantage to more than 20,000 vehicles. In the third quarter, which was seriously affected by the "lack of core", BMW achieved nearly 20% growth against the trend, completely opening up the gap between Mercedes-Benz and Audi, and laying a solid foundation for competing for the annual sales championship.
Courtesy of the enterprise
BMW can achieve a breakthrough of 840,000 vehicles in the whole year, which is inseparable from its own perfect product supply chain. In the context of the "chip shortage" industry, BMW can still maintain good market elasticity, indicating its strength in planning and pre-judgment, supply chain emergency handling and other aspects. The reporter of China Economic Network once followed BMW Brilliance into its supply chain system and found that it has excellent management and control capabilities in the management links of selection, deployment and emergency response.
At the same time, BMW has always practiced the principle of "China first", more deeply understood China's needs, and launched products that are deeply loved by consumers. The data shows that in 2021, the BMW 3 series and BMW 5 series will exceed 150,000 vehicles. In addition, the market performance of bmw's X series is also good, with bmw X3 sales exceeding 150,000 units, X5 exceeding 50,000 units for the first time, and X7 deliveries also exceeding 10,000 units.
In terms of new energy, BMW continues to make breakthroughs, with a total of 48,000 electric models delivered in China in 2021, which is inseparable from its pragmatic sales strategy. At the beginning of 2021, BMW not only adjusted the official selling price of the BMWiX3, but also made cash compensation to the owners of the purchased cars. At the same time, the BMW5 series of new energy models has gained a firm foothold, with average monthly sales reaching about 2,000 units. In the next 2022, BMW will also launch 7 new energy products in the Chinese market, including the pure electric BMW3 series.
In contrast, Mercedes-Benz is not spared in the field of electric vehicles. In 2021, Mercedes-Benz opened the year of "EQ", and successively introduced three pure electric vehicle models of EQA, EQB, and EQS in the Chinese market, plus the previously launched EQC, forming a perfect electrification product matrix. However, due to the short time to market, the three new models have not yet achieved sound. According to the plan, in 2022 Mercedes-Benz will launch 8 pure electric and plug-in hybrid models.
In the field of technology and services, Mercedes-Benz continues to strengthen intelligence and digitalization. In 2021, the new Daimler China R&D Technology Center will be opened, which will help Mercedes-Benz to further focus on the needs of Chinese customers. In addition, based on the electrified and digital lifestyle of Chinese users, Mercedes-Benz continues to improve the service experience of "heart luxury". In the eyes of industry insiders, Mercedes-Benz's move is for the future layout, which is conducive to improving the service capabilities of the "electric vehicle era".
Focusing on the present, Mercedes-Benz electric vehicles have not opened the market, and existing models are constrained by "lack of cores", resulting in a slight decline of 2% of their cumulative sales to 758,900 vehicles. Mercedes-Benz said bluntly, "In 2021, the global automotive industry is facing challenges, and we always give priority to the Chinese market business and try our best to ensure supply." ”
With the "lack of core" crisis greatly improved, the supply and preferential margin of Mercedes-Benz's hot models have almost returned to "normal". When the reporter of China Economic Network recently visited the Mercedes-Benz 4S store, he found that the new generation of Mercedes-Benz C-class discounts that have recently been listed have reached 30,000 yuan, AND GLB can be discounted by 50,000 yuan, and the two models of existing cars are more sufficient.
For Audi, the company sold 701,300 units in the full year, down 3.6% year-on-year. Audi admitted, "After a record-breaking 2020, the shortage of semiconductors for locally produced cars in the fourth quarter is particularly obvious. In the global market, Audi's deliveries in the fourth quarter were down 34.2% from the same period last year due to "missing cores".
However, the heritage and development potential of the Audi brand should not be underestimated. At the end of last year, the Audi brand ushered in a milestone of more than 7 million vehicles in China, which is a height that BMW and Mercedes-Benz will not be able to reach in the short term. At the same time, with the delivery of SAIC Audi models and the next phase of electrification offensive, the Audi brand is expected to achieve further growth in 2022. In 2022, Audi will expand its lineup of all-electric products by launching electric models based on the MEB platform in the compact and mid-range segments.
For the future, Audi has set a clear development plan. In August 2021, Audi announced the "Vorsprung2030" strategy, which will focus on three strategic priorities: electric mobility, autonomous driving and digitalization. "There is no doubt that the Chinese market is a top priority for Audi's future success," reiterated Nesper, then president of Audi China, "and by 2023, Audi aims to achieve annual sales of 1 million units in the world's most important market." ”
BBA's ranking in the Chinese market is in line with global performance. In 2021, BMW won the annual sales volume of the global luxury car brand with a record of 2.214 million units. It was also the first time since 2015 that BMW beat Mercedes. Mercedes-Benz and Audi sold 2.055 million units and 1.6805 million units worldwide, respectively, both down slightly year-on-year. (China Economic Network reporter Jiang Zhiwen)