Can't sell, can't sell at all! BMW 1 Series/X2 production is about to be discontinued, BBA synchronously discontinued low-end cars

A few days ago, BMW announced that it will discontinue production of two entry-level models this year. Among them, the entry-level sedan 1 series will be discontinued in July this year, and the crossover small SUV X2 will be postponed to September.

This BBA three coincidence, Audi has announced that it will stop the production of A1 and Q2, Mercedes-Benz plans to stop the production of the A-class and B-class before 2025, which also means that the BBA's entry models will be at least 3, 4, C in the future.

At this point, the wave of BBA sinking tide set off in previous years, and finally only chicken feathers remained, and everyone cut the so-called "entry models", and 100,000 BBAs are about to become history.

Why did the BBA do this? What will be their subsequent actions? Let Kung Fu Cars take you to see it together.

(1) Can't sell, can't sell at all!

In terms of "age", these entry-level models are almost all very "young" models. BMW 1 series entered China in 2017, Mercedes-Benz A-class was first domestically produced in 2019, and Audi A1 was imported into China for a longer time, but it was not more than 10 years.

That is to say, these cars have not been in the domestic market for a long time. There is only one reason for giving up so quickly, that is, it can't be sold.

As an important product of BBA's "sinking" strategy in previous years, the market performance of these entry-level models can be described as Wang Xiaoer's New Year, and the year is not as good as the year.

Take the BMW 1 Series as an example, it was still very popular when it was just domestically produced, and sales jumped to more than 5,000 units from time to time. As a compact car positioned at the level of 20-250,000 yuan, its existence is a good supplement for the Big Brother 3 series. It can not only set off the powerful products of the three series, but also cover some users who have insufficient budgets and want BBA. Once these users "enter", the BBA will also be given priority for subsequent car changes.

But since 2021, the decline of the BMW 1 Series has become more and more obvious, and sales have fallen from more than 5,000 units to more than 4,000 units, and then slowly to about 1,000 units now.

Corresponding to the decline in sales, there was also a crazy plunge in prices. When these entry-level luxury models were first launched, they were still very proud, and the benefits were very, very small. What salespeople often say is, 200,000 to buy a BBA, what more bike?

As the market changes, they also have to open up large discounts. Also taking the BMW 1 Series as an example, it was at its peak when it was just launched, and the landing price was generally around 250,000. But in recent years, the preferential range has risen all the way, and the current offer is basically 60,000+ discounts, and the landing is only about 170,000, which can be called the cheapest BMW, and even lower than the price of many domestic cars. But Rao is so, and the stimulation of sales is also a drop in the bucket.

This is probably the biggest reason why BBAs want to stop producing these entry-level models, on the one hand, they really can't sell, on the other hand, they really don't make money, and the strategic significance is naturally getting smaller and smaller.

(2) "Pure selling bids" is not good, the times have changed?

The biggest reason why these luxury entry-level models have turned from prosperity to decline is the change of consumption concepts, and everyone pays more and more attention to product power when choosing cars.

Taking the BMW 1 Series as an example, its interior and exterior design use BMW's family design language, including the classic elements of the kidney grille and chicken leg gear. Although the body size of 4462*1803*1446mm is not large, it is definitely enough for young people who mainly commute to work. BMW's positioning of the 1 Series is also clear, that is, to face those young people with good economic conditions.

But in addition to these external conditions, the core of the 1 series is much worse. The new car is equipped with a 1.5T three-cylinder engine and a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission as standard, and uses a typical front-wheel drive platform. BMW's classic rear-drive +2.0T/3.0T+8AT, it doesn't hit it at all. This also means that from a driving point of view, this car is not "BMW-like".

And in addition to the low entry price, the maintenance of these entry-level luxury models is BBA-level, and it is actually not cheap. The price of small maintenance (only replacing the oil filter) of the BMW 1 series is about 1,000 yuan, while the ordinary family car is only about 300 yuan. This means that the user's later cost is not low, and the cost of having a blue sky and white cloud is not small.

More deadly is the rise of electrification, which has begun to encroach on the market space of 200,000 levels. In the past, when everyone chose a car, the 200,000 level was basically some joint venture fuel vehicles, and some young users did not want to choose the joint venture family B-class car, they would choose the younger 1 series.

But now the market has changed, and the 200,000 level can choose a series of high-end electrified models such as Tesla Model 3, Xpeng P7, and BYD Han. These cars need to be technological, practical and far stronger than those of the 1 Series, and the key driving experience is much higher. There are also highly playable models like the Smart Genie #1, which are even inextricably linked to the BBA door on the brand.

In this situation, it is becoming increasingly difficult for car owners to convince themselves to buy a 200,000 BBA.

(3) BBA shrinks, but it may not be easy to fight?

A few years ago, the slogan of BBAs was to break into the 200,000 level to grab the jobs of Toyota and Volkswagen. But with the advent of the era of electrification, such dreams have undoubtedly been shattered. As things stand now, the BBA has begun a collective contraction. It includes not only "killing" a number of entry-level models, but also plans to slow down the domestic production of some high-end models.

They do so for only one purpose, and that is to maintain price barriers.

BBAs have actually tried electrification, like BMW launched i3 and i8 as early as 2013, earlier than most new forces to build new energy vehicles. But the effect is not obvious, and the biggest obstacle is that consumers are not interested in electrified BBA.

in order to

BMW iX3

For example, it is an electrified model of the X3, with a 2.0T high-power power power benchmark and a stronger configuration than the fuel version of BMW. But the same sells for 400,000 yuan,

BMW X3

Can sell more than 10,000 units a month, but BMW iX3 has to discount 100,000+ to barely sell more than 3,000, this gap is too big.

The brand advantages that BBAs have spent hundreds of years building have had little effect after being transferred to electrified products. At this time, they have only two ways to go, either continue to climb the product strength to compete with competitors, or directly "lie flat" and try to maintain the existing fuel vehicle market. Judging from the current situation, BBAs are likely to choose the latter.

Therefore, we can see that BMW, which enters 2023, is still holding oil-to-electric models such as i3 and iX3 to support its electrification "face". Sales are also completely "not motivated", and the amount of two or three thousand units can be taken under the big discount, which is to complete the task.

At the same time, they will gradually streamline the product line, such as bringing models such as the 3 Series and A4L to the entry level, and strengthening the coverage of models such as the X5L. In this way, a stable price barrier system will be formed, from 300,000-600,000 users, can have a relatively suitable choice, and there is no 200,000-level model to "pull" down the brand positioning.

This method may seem like an ostrich, but it is not necessarily ineffective. In fact, when many users choose a model at this price point, BBA is still the first choice. Although ideal, Denza

Polar Krypton

They stole some markets, but after all, not mainstream, BBAs still took the most markets.

(4) Kung Fu shooting

BBA stopped producing low-end cars, and the biggest reason was that it could not be sold. The product power of these entry-level models is already average, and with the change of everyone's consumption concept, it is becoming more and more unwelcome, and it is reasonable to stop production.

But we should also see that in the main range of 300,000-600,000 yuan, the dominance of BBAs is still strong. For example, if you want to spend more than 300,000 yuan to buy a sports sedan, the 3 series is still a very competitive choice. Even if there is a small premium, it is affordable for target users. And the BBAs cut the entry-level model, which also helps to shape the high-end image.

Creating barriers through price systems rather than product forces may seem illogical, but it is very reasonable and effective. Electrification may still have a long way to go to disrupt this.