The price war in the automobile industry enters its final stage: BBA withdraws in full, and the market tends to stabilize.
With the continuous evolution of China's auto market, the price war among luxury brands seems to be entering its twilight. Recently, Benz announced that it would exit the price war and implement a "decrease volume to maintain price" strategy to cope with the dealer's loss-making problem caused by the price war. This move has attracted a lot of attention in the market and has prompted the traditional luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW to follow suit, indicating that the BBA (Benz, BMW, Audi) will soon exit the price war in full.
Benz takes the lead, raising prices across the board
Benz's sales staff at 4S stores said that the prices of all its products have risen, with the increase ranging from 30,000 to 50,000 yuan. For example, the price of the Mercedes-Benz 3 series has risen from about 230,000 yuan to about 260,000 yuan after the price cut, and the landed price is about 300,000 yuan. Sales staff also said that the price is likely to rise further in the future, so consumers who are considering buying a car should act quickly.
Benz China also said that it will focus on business quality in the second half of the year, supporting dealers to steadily play the game, stabilizing the price by reducing sales volume, and easing the operating pressure of dealers.
BBA follows suit, ending the price war
Following Benz, Mercedes-Benz and Audi, the traditional luxury brands have also announced the end of the "price war to maintain market share" strategy. The sales staff of Mercedes-Benz 4S stores said that the price of each C-class car sold has been reduced by several thousand yuan, and the price has been stable and may rise in the future. Audi dealers also revealed that the prices of its main sales cars such as Audi Q5L, Audi A6L and Audi A4L have risen slightly, and there may be further adjustments in the future.
This means that the BBA's three luxury brands will exit the price war in full, and the market will gradually return to rationality.
Reasons and impacts behind the price war
This year, luxury brands such as Benz, BMW and Audi have launched a price war, especially in the field of electric vehicles. However, the price war has not brought a significant increase in sales, but has caused huge losses to the brand value. The sales data released by the Benz Group shows that the market sales in the first half of this year decreased by 4.2% year-on-year, indicating that it is not easy to exchange market share for price.
Analysts pointed out that another perspective of the BBA's exit from the price war is to protect the brand value. Facing the rapid rise of independent brands and the continuous expansion of market share, traditional luxury brands need to maintain their brand value. If the brand value can be maintained by sacrificing a certain amount of sales, it is a feasible choice for long-term development.