BMW i3 price falls off a cliff in China to revive sales after exiting price war

Source: BMW

On December 5, local media identified a jaw-dropping discount on the BMW i3 for a limited-time of 177,000 CNY.

The price discount on the i3 can be combined with a provincial trade-in subsidy (only Zhejiang) of 15,000 CNY and a brand-wide trade-in subsidy of 3,000 CNY, reducing starting price to 159,000 CNY, or by 55%.

The BMW i3’s retail price is 353,900 to 413,900 CNY, but is often heavily discounted across dealerships in China to achieve higher volume sales.

While this limited-time promotion has stirred nationwide reaction from Chinese consumers, a sales consultant at the BMW dealership offering these discounts clarified that they were only for two BMW i3 at the store, the preferential subsidies were exclusive to Zhejiang Province, and ultimately, they are now sold out.

The current promotion at other dealerships is of about 40%, shaving the starting price form 353,900 CNY to 212,000 CNY.

End-of-year promotions are lagging indicators of BMW’s immense pressure to achieve greater volume.

Sales of the BMW i3 have virtually plummeted since August, in comparison to last year’s sales.

This is actually a result of BMW’s strategy in July 2024 to exit the price war in China, having ceased offering steep discounts to improve margins.

Cumulative sales as of October 2024 fell below last year’s for the first time, at 40,031 BMW i3 sold compared to 41,456 units last year at the same period.

However, BMW dealerships have no choice, but to jump back into the cutthroat price war using “year-end promotions” as an excuse to revitalize sales volume.

BMW i3 falling sales are actually a crack in the dam that reveals the bigger issue at the German brand. Sales of the BMW group in China have also fell sharply since August.

Moreover, every month except January have lagged 2023 sales.

In fact, BMW China sales on a cumulative basis for the year as of October 2024 stands at 498k units, compared to 575k in 2023 and 541k in 2022.

YTD sales are 13.4% lower than last year’s, reflecting the company’s struggles in the ultra competitive Chinese market.