Lead
Introduction
Bmw X5 is it about buying time and space?
Author 丨 Luo Chao
Responsible editor 丨 Xu Jinkai
Editor 丨Zhu Jinbin
"After the launch of the NIO ES7, it will be benchmarked against the BMW X5L, and it is expected that these two cars will become the most anticipated large five-seat SUV in 2022."
At the Weilai sharing meeting two months ago, Weilai President Qin Lihong once again pointed the spearhead at BMW, and the confrontation was enough to see the importance of the entire industry to the domestic BMW X5.
As the first medium-sized and large-scale SUV in the head luxury camp to be domestically produced, bmw X5 has been on the cusp of the storm since the news of domestic production four years ago. Everyone knows that once such a highly positioned product is domestically produced, then for BMW and the entire luxury car market, it will experience a "bloody storm" baptism.
The inherent pattern of the luxury market, the price system, the business strategy... All will enter a new round of reshaping period under the impact of the localization of BMW X5.
Who did the BMW X5 hit?
Last night, in the face of old enemies and new forces, BMW finally solemnly fell this key in the big chess game of the Chinese auto market, with a price range of 605,000 yuan to 775,000 yuan.
In terms of product strength, whether it is comparable to the 3105mm wheelbase of BMW X7, or product highlights such as intelligent laser headlights, M Performance performance components, and 3.0T inline six-cylinder turbo engines, the domestic BMW X5 can be described as "fully armed", and the era is rolled up to this point, and the product force is always hard currency.
Although bmw X5 failed to explore the price range of 550,000 as previously rumored, compared with imported models, there is still a price reduction of nearly 100,000 yuan, coupled with the product strength of learning from each other's strengths and constantly "adding materials", the market competitiveness of domestic X5 is beyond doubt.
In fact, even if it is an imported model, bmw X5 has considerable market pressure. For the whole of last year, the BMW X5 achieved sales of 50,200 units in the domestic market, ranking first in luxury imported SUVs sales, surpassing mercedes-Benz GLE sales of 47,800 units and Audi Q7's 16,000 units.
For a product priced at 700,000 yuan, it is absolutely valuable to be able to reach the level of 4,000 vehicles per month in the form of imports. Today, the entry threshold of BMW X5 is further reduced, which will further release its product and market potential.
"This will be another blockbuster model of BMW Brilliance", almost the industry consensus, there is not much suspense. So, as a blockbuster in this year's luxury car market, whose cake will the BMW X5 "catfish" move?
First of all, although new forces such as Weilai have been breaking through all the way, constantly encroaching on the market space of luxury cars, and taking the BMW X5 as a direct benchmarking object, it must be admitted that this benchmarking is more about product positioning and brand building.
Whether it is the target customer or the price system, the cross-set between the two is limited, and there are still large differences. In other words, BMW's leading position in the traditional fuel vehicle market is not something that the new forces can easily subvert, and the new forces are not the main offensive area of the BMW X5.
Secondly, inside the luxury brand of the head of the needle to Mai Mang, the localization of bmw X5 is undoubtedly a punch to Mercedes-Benz and Audi. At a time when old rivals such as Mercedes-Benz GLE and Audi Q7 have not yet been domestically produced, BMW X5 has become a unique presence in the traditional luxury medium and large SUV market.
In the case of taking the lead, BMW X5 is bound to further divide part of the market share and expand the market advantage. Some people speculate that the domestic production of BMW X5 will accelerate the domestic speed of Mercedes-Benz GLE and Audi Q7, and then it will inevitably set off a price war, squeeze the lower market, and completely change the market pattern.
The speculation is not unreasonable, but it involves a long-term proposition, that is, the question of how to choose between sales volume and sales quality.
All along, the terminal price of Mercedes-Benz GLE is quite firm, the terminal landing price is basically more than 800,000 yuan, although it is slightly inferior to bmw X5 in terms of sales, but it still maintains a consistently high level of brand premium and sales quality.
Whether to change the way the market plays, abandon brand advantages, and participate in the hand-to-hand battle for sales, Mercedes-Benz needs to think carefully.
This is especially true for Audi, which has been struggling between sales and brands for many years, relying on price concessions in previous years to fight back, and the sequelae have suddenly emerged, making its value chain system carry a heavy market terminal burden.
The failure of the Audi Q7 generation has exacerbated the burden at the brand level. Therefore, it can be seen that the domestic A7L has not closed the price system as sharply as expected, and Audi is trying to convey to the market hysterically through the layout of high-level models that it should have as a luxury car brand, so as to make up for the brand loss caused by the price decline.
Sales volume and sales quality, BMW does not want to do Audi, it chooses "all want". The key point is that BMW currently holds 75% of the shares in the joint venture, which means that it has more decision-making power over BMW Brilliance and will also obtain more lucrative corporate profits.
On the one hand, looking at the entire BMW product matrix and price system, the pricing of the domestic BMW X5 is more than enough, which can take into account the dual benefits of the brand and the market; on the other hand, after the introduction of high-profit models, under the cost advantage, BMW can fully enjoy the dividends of sales growth and ensure the quality of operation.
Not only that, the overseas version of the BMW X5 will also usher in a mid-term redesign this year. Therefore, it is reported that BMW may adopt a "two-line parallel" sales method, while introducing the redesigned imported BMW X5, continuing to exert brand momentum, while expanding market share through the domestic BMW X5, further suppressing the two old opponents of Mercedes-Benz GLE and Audi Q7, two pure imports, and vigorously attacking the camp of second-line luxury.
Yes, the BMW X5 that firmly holds the pricing power in its hands may not be Mercedes-Benz and BMW, but precisely the second-tier luxury brands that give priority to localization.
Looking at the current domestic auto market, second-tier luxury brands have chosen to establish a cost-effective advantage through localization in the field of medium and large SUVs, which is already one of the mainstream choices. Whether it is the Cadillac XT6, or the Lincoln Aviator, or even the Infiniti QX60, they all embark on the road of localization, and often achieve a certain sales growth.
But it is still that problem, when Cadillac, Volvo and other luxury brands harvest the market with large discounts, the trade-off between brand and sales is like a sword suspended above the head of Damocles, restricting many powerful people under the rule of the BBA today.
Compared with the relatively stable market form of first-line luxury, many second-line luxury brands are obviously in the more obvious differentiation trend, and the localization of high-end models has more of a forced helplessness.
Domestic consumers have a low level of awareness of second-tier luxury brands and can only struggle to survive in a relatively niche market for a long time. Although most of the second-tier luxury is benchmarking the top three Germans in terms of brand image and model positioning, it is subject to various factors such as market ownership and product strength, which makes it difficult for them to form a direct confrontation with BBA.
Therefore, once the BMW X5 swept the market, the second-tier luxury bore the brunt of the squeeze. Models such as the XC90, Aviator, RX and even the Volkswagen Touareg will be directly under pressure.
The new pattern of second-tier luxury is quietly happening in the value collision brought by BMW X5, and the market trend of decoupling sales from brands is profoundly changing the direction of the second-tier luxury car market.
The helplessness behind the domestic X5
Not long ago, BMW released the localization strategy upgrade of "Home in China", clearly proposing: uphold the principle of "China first", give priority to The needs of the Chinese market in product development, and strengthen the co-creation of win-win results with Chinese partners.
It is undeniable that as the absolute core of BMW's existing product matrix, BMW X5 is undoubtedly a direct expression of the localization strategy after the change of the joint venture share ratio.
However, when BMW showed its determination to open up the Chinese market, there were also some helplessness and hidden worries behind it.
Tesla set off monstrous waves, "Wei Xiaoli" continued to rush forward, Avita and Salon have responded, and the bloody revolution and growth behind China's vast new energy track are constantly breaking those old concepts that are sealed in memory.
A set of data that BMW does not want to see is that although luxury cars are the first major driving force for the growth of the car market, they are also the only market segments with declining concentration; luxury owners turn to Tesla, resulting in a 30% drop in the residual value of traditional luxury cars; the average transaction price of Weilai is higher than that of BMW and Audi; the replacement of ideal BBA user characteristics are obvious, reaching 23% of all brands...
For the understanding of electrification, intelligent thinking, manufacturing system innovation, BMW seems to have always had its own unique logic and philosophy, the enemy of the new force or the innovation target is fuel vehicles, but BMW's innovation goal is its own internal genes, which leads to BMW's innovation in electrification is not so thorough, but also seems to be at a loss.
Unlike four years ago, BMW is no longer facing the continuous suppression of Mercedes-Benz, but the continuous encirclement and suppression of new forces, and from now on, BMW's response is not ideal.
At present, whether from the perspective of endurance, automatic driving or intelligent cockpit, BMW's electric vehicle model has not formed a corresponding technical advantage and brand image in the new era, and the lackluster product strength is not enough to support the high product premium, nor has it completely reversed BMW's inherent cognition in the era of fuel vehicles, which makes BMW gradually throw away the distance by Tesla and others in the field of electrification.
A cruel reality is that compared with the unprecedented attention of the BMW X5, the BMW i3, which should have made a grand debut and declared war on the Model 3, was drowned in the carnival of the BMW X5, starting its own long journey in an extremely suffocating and bland way, which is doubly regrettable.
How dazzling the domestic BMW X5 is, how dim the BMW i3 is. From this point of view, the BMW X5 is inevitably mixed with a little self-protection, bmw must strengthen the moat in a limited time, for its own electrification change to win more time and space.
At the same time, it must also be clearly understood that the iteration speed of new technologies such as intelligent interaction and automatic driving is beyond imagination, and BMW's leading edge in the internal combustion engine will undoubtedly be quickly smoothed out by the times, once it cannot adapt to the new technological changes in the Chinese market, BMW's new generation of products is likely to be "eliminated" by various forces that have attacked the front-end technology.
We do not deny that BMW may have a deep intelligent technology reserve and is preparing for development. It is only with the breaking of the system and pattern of the traditional energy market that too many excellent companies have fully penetrated into the value hinterland of BMW.
No matter how indestructible BMW's past glory is, at this time, it needs to face tesla, China's new car manufacturing forces, and traditional car companies that want to overtake through new energy curves.
| Luo Chao |
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