In the closing month of 2023, BMW took the last radical price reduction measure of the year: each model under the brand will be reduced by at least 100,000 yuan, and the SUV model will even be reduced by as much as 250,000 yuan. Taking the BMW i3 as an example, the manufacturer's guide price is 35390,000-41390,000 yuan, but the price of the terminal is only 210,000 yuan.
You know, luxury brands like BMW have always been worried about selling cars before. As a recognized luxury brand, BMW is superior to the general mainstream brands in terms of premium price and brand appeal.
But apparently today, BMW is not as good as it was in previous years.
Taking BMW i3 as an example, only 4 months after the new car was launched, the official announced a price reduction of tens of thousands, and now it has only been on the market for two years, and it has come to the "bottom".
The reason behind the frequent price cuts is the poor sales of the BMW brand. In particular, the market response of its new energy models has generally been poor. However, the price reduction did bring a certain amount of market sales to BMW.
So why does the BMW i3 need to trade the market with a price cut?The main reason is also the lack of product power. At present, in the minds of most consumers, BBA is slightly "conservative" compared with domestic new power brands in terms of intelligence, three-electric technology, model design, service experience, product pricing, etc., and is nicknamed "miscellaneous trams" by netizens.
In particular, the recent large-scale outbreak of BMW i3 antifreeze leakage incident fully confirms BMW's shortcomings in electrification transformation.
Some car owners posted that their car friend group reported that in recent days, under low temperatures, about five or six out of ten BMW i3 cars have antifreeze leakage problems, while seven or eight out of ten cars of northern car owners can leak.
Some car owners even said that they had only picked up the car for a week and found that the antifreeze was leaking, and regretted buying the i3
After the inspection of the 4S shop, it was preliminarily judged that it was a problem with the coolant shut-off valve, which caused the leakage of sealing due to thermal expansion and contraction. The original parts need to be imported from Germany, and car owners need to wait at least a month to complete the replacement.
For traditional fuel vehicles, the role of antifreeze is to maintain the temperature of the engine and ensure that it runs in the high-efficiency range. However, for trams, antifreeze is more widely used, including the entire battery, motor, line pipe, and cockpit air conditioner. The increase in circulating lines increases the risk of coolant leakage, so there are higher requirements for quality control and assembly quality.
It is worth mentioning that antifreeze leakage is actually BMW's "common problem", and many of BMW's fuel models have also been criticized by users for antifreeze leakage.
Some netizens even joked that to identify whether it is a real BMW, just see if the antifreeze leaks or not.
In addition to the current exposure of antifreeze leakage, many consumers are also worried that the wear and tear of BMW's "brushed motor" will bring inconvenience and even high maintenance costs to the later use of the car.
It is understood that almost most of the electric models on the market use permanent magnet synchronous motors, also known as brushless motors;The BMW i3, on the other hand, uses an externally excited synchronous motor, that is, a brushed motor. However, both motors have their own advantages and disadvantages.
However, it is generally believed in the industry that brushed motors will reduce the dependence on rare earth magnets, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost of motors.
After the evaluation, the disadvantages of the brush motor were exposed: the rear drive motor of the BMW i3 has carbon brushes and slip rings in the structure, and when the motor is running, the carbon brushes and slip rings are in a state of mutual workmanship, which will inevitably cause wear. The dust generated by the friction of the carbon brush will affect the life of the motor, and then the stability will be reduced.
Write at the end:
Entering the era of electrification, the BBA, which used to be dominant, is in decline. However, in terms of sales of new energy models, BMW is currently ahead of the other two brands, with cumulative sales exceeding 300,000 units.
However, BMW should also realize that blindly relying on price cuts to boost sales is tantamount to quenching thirst. In order to reverse the brand image of "weak electrification" in the minds of consumers, it is necessary to come up with new platforms and technologies as soon as possible.