To say that 2022, is definitely a good year suitable for "watching the liveliness", Weilai, Zhiji, Gaohe, Xiaopeng, Lantu, and the right and the Huawei "pro-son" AITO car, these new forces will each release a price anchored in the price range of 300,000 to 500,000 "luxury pure electric vehicles" in different quarters of this year, coinciding with the BBA brand's new energy products also began to complete the "pace acceleration" to "product landing" change in 2022. As the "melon-eating masses" second only to the "sunrise masses", we seem to be cold-eyed about whether it is the independent new power brands that have the upper hand or the traditional luxury brands that hold their positions, it seems that the attitude of "shaking legs" and "snorting melon seeds" is cold-eyed, after all, no matter how fierce their confrontation is, the beneficiaries are still ourselves.
Just like bmw's second pure electric vehicle model, which has just been listed, the BMW i4, it has caused a lot of controversy. There are a lot of "melon eating masses" will take a breath of cool air at its price of 449,900 to 539,900 yuan, and then come on, BMW or you BMW, this price I might as well buy Tesla Model Y or wait for Weilai ET7 to be listed.... But many people will feel that the release of the BMW i4 is a demonstration of BMW's extension of luxury to a new pure electric track.
Maybe the BMW i4 is just a "ready post"
As we all know, BMW's "even number system" is usually a manifestation of BMW's personality and belongs to a niche market. Che Shijun reasonably speculated that in the case that the product strength is not dominant, the primary task of bmw i4 will never be to bear the sales volume, and to take it as the pioneering work of BMW pure electric car, more is BMW's exploration of the market situation, product architecture and service concept in the new era, so as to make a "preparatory post" for the grand debut of the main player pure electric 3 series.
From the perspective of the longitudinal comparison within BMW, the exploration of bmw i4 mainly focuses on three aspects. First, in terms of price, bmw i4 has actually abandoned the unrealistic brand premium right. It should be known that at the beginning of the listing of BMW iX3, BMW had given a starting price of 469,900 yuan, which was much higher than the BMW X3 of the same level. However, with the listing of the domestic Model Y, the lackluster product strength of bmw iX3 is not enough to support the high product premium, nor has it been able to reverse BMW's inherent cognition in the era of fuel vehicles, which forced the official announcement of a price cut of 70,000 yuan, suddenly pulling the price system to the price range of 400,000 yuan, coupled with the continuous preferential policies of the terminal, to tragically regain a part of the market.
In addition, BMW iX to a large extent represents BMW's forward-looking thinking on the future of pure electric travel, from design concepts to intelligent applications, BMW iX is more like an experimental pure electric flagship model. The pricing of nearly 850,000 is destined not to require BMW iX to bear too much market pressure, but only to highlight BMW's technical capabilities and premium level in the new era.
The BMW i4 abandons the pricing range of the previous two models "virtual" and largely conforms to the market trend of "oil and electricity parity", and adapts to the competitive environment of such a "rolled-in" Chinese market with a relatively suitable price system. In fact, unlike the overwhelming "too expensive" criticism of the BMW iX3 and the BMW iX when it was listed, the controversy and discussion about the price of the i4 this time is much softer.
Second, in terms of channels, with the listing of BMW i4, BMW is also consciously continuing to promote the upgrading of the national sales and service network. It is undeniable that at present, almost all domestic companies are exploring to build a new user ecosystem, and BMW has more or less absorbed management experience and ideological concepts from China's mature channel business model. At present, bmw has completed BMW i business certification in more than 500 of its approximately 600 dealer outlets nationwide. This year, BMW will also work with dealers to pilot the "BMW i Experience Store" in the city center, so as to gradually adapt to the impact of the direct operation model on traditional sales channels.
Third, on the product side, bmw i4 has made some substantive explorations that are more in line with market demand. On the one hand, the CLTC range of the i4 eDrive40 and i4 M50 has reached 625 km and 560 km respectively, which is almost the same as the current mainstream pure electric model. On the other hand, bmw i4 has also made a series of beneficial attempts in the interior and intelligent car machine, the design method of the dual screen and the latest iDrive 8 system have changed the "old-fashioned" processing mode of the previous pure electric models.
BMW is a leader at the platform level
When we talk about the BMW i4, perhaps most people have not forgotten that BMW is the first luxury brand of the BBA brand to launch pure electric vehicle products in the Chinese market. Whether it is the exquisite and compact BMW i3 or the cool open-top BMW i8, in these two mass-produced new energy models, BMW has made pure electric, plug-in hybrid, range extender and other attempts. Today's BMW i4 CLAR platform is BMW's proposal as early as 2017 that CLAR is a highly flexible platform that can switch fuel, PHEV and EV (pure electric) and even fuel cell versions at any time.
In the pure electric model, the CLAR platform still plays its advantage of "scale adjustment", will be lightweight and almost 50:50 perfect front and rear counterweight, in the previous BMW iX3 has played the "optimization, adaptation, stability" and other keywords of the vehicle driving texture, and this heritage and brand strength, is BMW as a traditional luxury brand "head-on" at home and abroad of the strength of the new power brand.
The blessing of M Power
Small partners familiar with BMW's models should know that the digital tail mark after the BMW model name often represents performance, and in the BMW i4 current two models of "BMW i4 M50" and "BMW i4 eDrive40", bmw i4 M50 model configuration, although not belonging to the "M Power" series representing the performance monster, but the slightly lower positioning of the M Performance series models are also developed in close collaboration with the "M department". With more powerful dynamic driving performance, it has been specially tuned in terms of power, chassis and transmission system, and it is often distinguished from the conventional M sports suit in BMW's fuel vehicle product matrix, but it is different from the ultimate M Power.
On the BMW i4 M50, the M division offers it an overcharged mode in which the fifth-generation eDrive drive system, which does not contain rare earth materials, can output up to 400 kW and 795 Nm with an acceleration time of 3.9 seconds per 100 km/h.
In terms of frame and chassis, through bmw M's exclusive tuning and testing, tailor-made M adaptive suspension, specially tuned springs and shock absorbers, variable sports steering system, additional body reinforcement components and M braking system and other technologies, M aerodynamic components, blue M high-performance brake calipers, etc., improve the driving performance of the M50.
Car Summary:
Excellent body rigidity, excellent suspension tuning, smooth power output, controllable body swing, lightweight body, all of which are the magic weapons for BMW to win on the track, and all of this is not simply reflected from the data, people who really understand BMW, people who know how to drive can understand the essence of BMW. Perhaps without the roar of the internal combustion engine, it is true that a little aural pleasure will be lost, but it does not prevent the i4 from being a successful and impressive sports car, and BMW also introduces us to a driver's car in the new energy era, and also makes an example to the world's sports cars.