It's not even morning 10, and it's already full of people. About 10 minutes ago, BMW released/launched five new cars, many of which are like the new M3/M4 Thunder Edition and the new? 4 series convertible coupe and other "spicy cars". It's hard to say which one is the most popular, but the most deserted one can be identified at a glance-IX3 pure electric SUV.
Among many new cars released/listed by BMW, iX3 is the least concerned one.
"Will you buy a pure electric car of a traditional luxury brand?" Next to BMW iX3, I discussed with several media colleagues.
Without exception, their answer is "no".
"For electric vehicles, I am more optimistic about new forces. They have bolder ideas and more innovative things. As for traditional luxury brands, I always feel that the action is slow and it is difficult to seize the market opportunity. " One of the peers said.
Although I don't quite agree with him, as far as the current market situation is concerned, there seems to be nothing to refute-in the EV field, traditional luxury brands are really backward.
Mercedes-Benz EQC and Audi e-tron are two representative electric vehicles in traditional luxury brands. Since they were listed in China, their monthly sales have not reached four figures.
As can be seen from the following two tables, in the current EV market, basic models with monthly sales of no more than four digits have been excluded from the mainstream, not to mention Jaguar I-PACE, Porsche Taycan and other models with monthly sales of only two digits.
Previously, many public opinions believed that the electrification of traditional luxury brands had failed.
Is that really the case?
0 1, the reason for not selling well is not the price, let alone the product.
"Traditional luxury brand electric vehicles are too expensive to sell, and I will not consider more than 300,000 electric vehicles." A colleague said. In his view, the high price is the main reason for the failure of the traditional luxury brand EV at this stage.
But I don't think so.
With a budget of less than 300,000 yuan, it is basically impossible to buy pure electric vehicles of traditional luxury brands.
Although the market for high-end electric vehicles is small, the demand still exists and the price is above 400,000. Consumers still prefer new models to traditional luxury brands.
For example, the guide price of Weilai ES8 is 46.80-62.40 million, which is very close to that of Mercedes-Benz EQC(49.98-62.28 million). The sales volume of the former in September was 1493, almost three times that of the latter (only 5 10 in September). Look at the Tesla model with a price close to 800,000? X, its sales in September reached 65,438+0,977 vehicles, ranking second in the field of pure electric SUVs that month.
From June to September this year, the cumulative sales volume of Mercedes-Benz EQC was less than 2 100.
Moreover, in traditional luxury brands, there are also some cars under 300,000, but they still can't be sold. Like Audi Q2L? E-tron (the guide price is 22.68-23.73 million), and the price range is only equivalent to the low-priced version of Q2L (the guide price is 265.438+0.88-268.5 million), but the sales volume is still bleak-the monthly sales volume also stays at the three-digit level.
Audi Q2Le-tron is the lowest price among traditional luxury brands EV.
"The price is not the most important issue, but the product is not extreme enough!" Another media colleague said.
There is some truth in this statement. At this stage, the traditional luxury brand EV is indeed a bit "insufficient" in terms of performance indicators. Take the BMW iX3 listed at the auto show as an example. Its maximum power is 2 10kW, its peak torque is 400Nm, its acceleration time is 6.8 seconds at 0-65,438+000km/h, and its cruising range is 500km. As can be seen from the following table, compared with the same level models of local car companies, the performance index gap is quite obvious.
In terms of power output, 0- 100km/h acceleration time, cruising range and other indicators, BMW iX3 lags behind Aion? LX and ES6.
For an electric vehicle, acceleration performance and cruising range are important, but in addition, design level, manufacturing technology, chassis adjustment and NVH performance will also affect the comprehensive performance of its products. These non-quantitative indicators reflect the advantages of traditional luxury brands.
The author has tested the Audi e-tron before, which is a pure electric SUV with "zero acceleration" of about 5.7 seconds. In terms of acceleration performance, it is not as good as many "new power" models, but it is undoubtedly better in terms of controllability of throttle (electric switch), damping texture of chassis, dynamic response of body, interior technology and ergonomics.
It is not difficult to build an EV with fast acceleration and long battery life, and it is not easy to build an EV with good quality and good experience.
So? The traditional luxury brand EV is just not perfect in the performance of the three electric systems. Judging from the overall strength of vehicles, they still have many surprises.
02, it is too early to talk about winning or losing.
Since price and product strength are not the most fatal, where did the traditional luxury brands lose?
In fact, the word "lost" is not appropriate to describe it. After all, there is no "winning" car company in the entire electric vehicle market.
Since the rapid development of 20 14, China has become the world's largest new energy vehicle market, accounting for more than half of the global share last year, but the proportion of new energy vehicles in the overall domestic automobile market is pitiful.
During the period of 1- 10 this year, the overall sales volume of new energy vehicles in China was 8 1.8 million (passenger cars), accounting for only about 5.3% of the passenger car market, and pure electric vehicles only accounted for 4.1%(640,000 vehicles). If B-end users are excluded, only private users are considered.
During the period of 1- 10, the cumulative sales volume of new energy vehicles was only 8 1.8 million, while the overall sales volume of passenger cars reached 1.5495 million.
Although there are dominant car companies like Tesla and powerful traditional car companies like GAC Ai 'an and BYD in this field, fundamentally speaking, the market size of pure electric vehicles is still too small and the development time is too short. It's too early to talk about success or failure. Some electric vehicle companies that have gained market opportunities at this stage may not be able to laugh at the end.
Compared with fuel vehicles, the technical threshold of electric vehicles is lower, the core motor and battery technologies are almost in the hands of several major suppliers, and the control logic of electronic control system is simpler than that of traditional power control system. Even an IT company like Huawei, which has never built a car, can build an industry-leading all-electric drive system.
DriveONE, an integrated electric drive system released by Huawei.
As long as you have a strong ability to integrate resources, you can build an electric car that looks good, which is one of the reasons why new car companies such as Weilai and Tucki can grow up rapidly.
In that case, why can't traditional luxury brands do it?
Perhaps the late start time made them miss the market opportunity. Mercedes-Benz and Audi's first electric vehicles were only listed in China at the end of last year-than Tesla models? S was nearly 6 years late (listed in China at the beginning of 20 14), and it also encountered a downturn in the domestic new energy market.
In the month when Mercedes-Benz EQC and Audi e-tron were listed in China, the new energy vehicle market fell by 465,438+0.7%.
Perhaps, the relatively conservative product strategy makes their product performance indicators not extreme enough-Mercedes-Benz EQC, Audi e-tron and BMW iX3 are all fuel vehicle platforms of the same level; Or perhaps, the three-step parallel electrification strategy of light mixing, plug-in mixing and pure electricity makes it impossible for them to put all their energy and resources into pure electric vehicles.
There are many reasons why "BBAs" lags behind in the field of electric vehicles. Generally speaking, it is a question of timing and direction. And when they find the right direction, will it be another scene?
03, confidence is still there, and the market will finally give the answer.
I don't know if you have seen the documentary iNEXT Discovery released by BMW, but I finished it with a smile.
Unlike most car companies' new car promotional videos, the films ridicule technologies such as interconnected intelligence, virtual collaboration, artificial intelligence, driving simulation and electric drive with a relaxed, humorous and even ironic attitude, but at the same time they also show BMW's strong strength in these fields.
It is not difficult to see BMW's attitude from this film: pure electric vehicles are not high-tech gadgets, but since there is demand in the market, BMW can also make pure electric products that are extreme enough.
This self-confidence is fully reflected in its newly released electric car iX.
This is a medium-sized and large-sized pure electric SUV with a wheelbase of 3000 mm. The maximum power is 370kW, the acceleration time of 0- 100km/h is less than 5 seconds, the battery capacity exceeds 100kWh, the comprehensive cruising range under WLTP standard exceeds 600km, and the energy consumption per 100 km is less than 2 1kWh.
In the field of medium and large pure electric SUVs, the power output of BMW iX is not the strongest, but the zero acceleration performance has been compared with Model? X and ES8 are equal, and their endurance is more advantageous. In addition, it is probably the best of all electric vehicles in terms of internal and external design, materials and technology.
Looking at the car wrapped in a lot of Sensatec material, the air outlet decorated with frosted metal decorative strips, the center console composed of wooden decorative panels and "crystal buttons", and the floating 14.9-inch curved screen, you will deeply understand what is real luxury.
Just looking at the layout of the central control, you can already feel BMW's emphasis on design.
Craft and texture are more reflected in the details.
A good electric car must be a good car first, which is the knowledge of the whole market. There is a threshold for building a good car. In addition to its powerful performance, it must have more exquisite technology, more detailed adjustment, more reliable quality control, more comprehensive safety ... and, inevitably, it has better cost control ability-whoever can build higher quality products at lower cost will really dominate the market.
In these respects, the advantages of traditional luxury brands are beyond the reach of new forces. A new car company established less than 6 years ago, how to compete with century-old brands in quality control? How can a new brand with an annual output of 6,543,800+vehicles compare with the cost of a mature automobile enterprise with an annual output of 6,543,800+vehicles?
The prospect of traditional luxury brands in EV field depends on their second wave products.
At present, the pure electric vehicle market is still in an immature development stage. Some car companies that are radical in strategy, seize opportunities, or know how to make gimmicks may be able to take the lead at this stage.
However, when pure electric vehicles become relatively mainstream, the technical differences between different car companies in electrification and intelligence will be further narrowed, and consumers' needs will be more rational. Factors such as quality, safety, reliability and economy will be valued again.
By then, the market structure of pure electric vehicles will be similar to that of fuel vehicles. Perhaps one or two new car companies can survive, but they can dominate the market, and it is the traditional car companies that really occupy the commanding heights of products. Not surprisingly, it is still a traditional luxury brand.
Words? |? superman
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.