A BMW iX3 electric SUV is on display during the Beijing 2020 International Motor Show (China China 2020) at the China International Exhibition Center on September 26, 2020, in Beijing, China.
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BEIJING – German carmaker BMW has cut prices for China’s all-electric iX3 SUV, bringing the car into closer competition with Tesla vehicles and Chinese start-ups such as the Nio.
The BMW website said on Thursday that the recommended retail price for the iX3 will start at 399,900 yuan ($ 61,713).
It dropped 70,100 yuan – or about $ 10,800 and 15 percent cheaper – from the initial price of 470,000 yuan announced in September.
“For its size, the iX3 would compete directly with the Tesla Y & NIO ES6, which have both substantially lower starting prices than the iX3 before this reduction, so BMW must have seen the ease of demand for the iX3 at that price point.” said Tu Le, founder of Beijing-based consulting firm Sino Auto Insights, “The bottom line has not been competitive.”
BMW reduced the price of a state-of-the-art version of the iX3 by the same amount of 70,100 yuan to a new price of 439,900 yuan, down from 510,000 yuan. A company representative did not immediately respond to a request for comments via email.
The price drop follows Tesla’s 30% drop in its Chinese-made model earlier this year to 339,900 yuan, down from 488,000 yuan, according to Chinese media reports.
For comparison, Chinese car start-up Nio’s ES6 sells for 358,000 yuan to 468,000 yuan.
BMW produces the iX3 in China through a joint partnership with Brilliance Auto. The car made in China should be the first joint venture to export to other countries, according to the German carmaker.
World car companies are increasingly looking to China to launch the latest electric cars. The country is the largest car market in the world, and the government has supported the subsidized electric vehicle market and the implementation of battery charging infrastructure.
Sales of new energy vehicles, which include both plug-in hybrid cars and pure electric cars, are expected to grow by 40% this year to 1.8 million, according to the China Automobile Manufacturers Association. New energy vehicle sales rose 10.9 percent last year to 1.367 million, despite declining global car sales and the coronavirus pandemic, the association said.