Can it be profitable to develop an internal combustion engine car? Can earn, past.
Can the development of new energy vehicles make money? Can earn, future.
Under the wave of vehicle electrification, most of the current "players" choose the latter, and have stopped their own internal combustion engine research and development. In this context, there are still "discordant voices emerging". Not long ago, Oliver Zipse, WHO is BMW CEO, said that "we must be cautious about the emergence of new technologies and the development of electric vehicles." It is also in line with his longstanding argument against a blanket ban on the sale of cars with internal combustion engines.
To that end, Oliver Zipse cites things like the fact that the development of electric vehicles has increased dependence on a handful of countries (emphasizing that suppliers of battery raw materials are mainly from China); and consumer demand for cars with internal combustion engines (if someone can't buy an electric car for some reason, would you advise him to drive his old car forever?). And there are gaps in charging infrastructure, and electric vehicles are expensive.
However, in the end, BMW, the "genius who pretends to be confused", still shows its "tail". Oliver Zipse said that providing more fuel-efficient cars with internal combustion engines is key, both from a profit and environmental point of view. So why can BMW think that it can achieve high profits through the research and development of internal combustion engines in the future time?
When he said this, the BMW 7 series that broke the "Euro Seven" was coming
If the new BMW i3 is a starter, then the upcoming release of the i7 and the new generation of BMW 7 series at the same time, even if it is BMW's dinner this year. In particular, the arrival of the new generation of BMW 7 Series also confirms the news that BMW announced at the beginning of this year that it will still develop a new generation of internal combustion engines. From the disclosed information, the new engine technology path is six cylinders, eight cylinders, and contains gasoline and diesel power. So at the time, there was speculation that the new power would be equipped with a new generation of BMW 7 Series.
As for why BMW's newly developed internal combustion engine on the new generation of 7 Series has attracted so much attention, the main reason is that it is expected to meet the unimplemented Euro 7 emission standards. For most traditional car companies, they obviously regard the harsh "Euro 7" as a southern wall, only hoping that it will not be implemented at the earliest expected time (2025), so as to leave more time for "U-turn".
As for how BMW's new motivation is 3 years in advance, we need to further observe and dismantle it. But in any case, the arrival of a new generation of BMW 7 Series has given the BMW CEO the confidence to publish the view at the beginning of the article. Subsequently, BMW has spent a lot of effort to continue to develop the internal combustion engine, and has not yet had time to return the cost, but does not want the internal combustion engine car to be directly "blocked" by the policy in some areas. So under the premise of conforming to the development of the times, does the investment in the internal combustion engine really have high profit space?
Looking at last year's report card, the "Military Merit Medal" is only given to fuel vehicles?
Turning to BMW's financial report last year, it is actually very clear. As the global sales champion in the 2021 BBA, the BMW Group sold a total of 2.5215 million vehicles, of which the BMW brand reached 2.214 million units, an increase of 9.1% year-on-year. More eye-catching is the revenue and profit, last year the BMW Group's total revenue reached 111.239 billion euros, an increase of 12.4% year-on-year. Net profit reached 12,463 million euros, an increase of 223.1% year-on-year. In the beautiful report card, the automobile business is indispensable, accounting for 85.83% of the BMW Group's revenue, and the contribution rate has increased steadily by 1.15%.
While the BMW Group is "modest" about this report card, it is "modestly" attributed to the focus on profitable growth and sustainable development, with a strategic focus on electrification and digitalization, and a firm commitment to innovation. But to put it another way, last year, under the pressure of supply chains such as chip shortages, BMW Group prioritized the production of more profitable models, thus achieving a soaring profit for the whole year.
Taking the Chinese market as an example, BMW X7 sales increased by 23.8% last year over the same period last year, while at that time it was still imported sales of BMW X5, domestic sales also exceeded 50,000 units, as a luxury medium and large SUV, its average monthly sales performance can exceed 4,000 units. With the blessing of high-end models such as bmw X5 domestic production and the new generation of BMW 7 series, even if the global car market continues to challenge in early 2022, the BMW Group still expects that global sales in 2022 will be the same as last year.
But is the surge in profits attributable only to cars with internal combustion engines? Obviously, at least, most of it is due to fuel vehicles. In terms of volume, although bmw group pure electric vehicle sales increased by 133.2% last year, the total number was in the early 100,000 units, only a little more than 4% of the group's total sales for the whole year. From the perspective of specific strategies, such as the price adjustment of bmw iX3 and the pricing of the new BMW i3 in the chassis "full blood" state, there is a taste of winning the market's favor. For example, under the pressure of the supply chain, new energy brands have increased prices, while traditional brands such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz have mainly directed the pressure to their fuel vehicles. Obviously, fuel vehicles have greater market tolerance for them, but also have considerable profit potential.
The basket of electric vehicles can not put BMW's "eggs"
However, BMW is not a representative of "old-fashioned", in addition to the rapid growth of new energy vehicle sales, it is planned that bmw group will also launch as many as 15 pure electric models this year, with the goal of delivering 2 million pure electric vehicles worldwide by the end of 2025. In recent years, the BMW Group has invested a lot of money in transformation and upgrading, and in 2021, its total investment in research and development will reach 6.299 billion euros, an increase of 10.7% year-on-year, mainly in new vehicle architecture and electric vehicle-related fields, as well as digitalization and driver assistance technology.
However, objectively, the development of pure electric vehicles coincides with the impact of supply chain pressures, geopolitical conflicts and other factors. Not only has the scale effect of automotive products not yet been transmitted to pure electric vehicles, but on the contrary, cost pressures and supply chain uncertainties have really been experienced by car companies. Under the concentration of rare mineral resources, the soaring of bulk raw materials, the improvement of infrastructure and other factors, BMW does not want to put eggs in one basket is a good explanation. The combination of the left hand i7 and the right hand 7 series is BMW's answer now.
For other traditional car companies, many "sudden stimuli" in 2022 are also crises and opportunities. Although traditional car companies and the "new forces" that rely on electric vehicles are under pressure from the supply chain, they all choose to transmit the pressure to the market terminal through products. However, the latter's transmission channel is undoubtedly more single, the pressure area is small, and it is easier to increase the sensitivity of the audience. The traditional car companies have a variety of pressure reduction channels, selective transmission, and the market pressure area is small. Perhaps under the stimulation of various kinds, more and more traditional car companies will re-examine their internal combustion engine automobile sector.