The truth about the price increase of Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi in stores, is

tech | 2024-05-08

Yesterday, the hashtag "Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi Price Increase" soared to the top of the car search trends, sparking heated discussions among netizens. Even Lei Jun, who was preparing for the "Lei Jun Annual Speech," couldn't help but join in the fun, tweeting, "Just saw the hottest search in the car circle today, surprisingly it's 'Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi Price Increase.' What's going on?"

In response, some netizens commented:

"The price increase of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi almost made Lei Jun wake up laughing."

Against the backdrop of major car brands still engaged in price wars and the hot sales of domestic high-end new energy vehicles, many believe that the price increase of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi is not a wise move, and their market share will be further eroded.

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Why did Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi make such a decision? After the collective news of price increases from Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi, what is the actual reaction of the terminal market and consumers?To get to the bottom of this, Jia Shi Pai visited three Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi dealerships in Chengdu's Shuangliu District in the afternoon of the same day to understand their latest real prices and discount situations at the terminal.

First, the conclusion: currently, the terminals of the three brands, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi, have not increased in price, meaning the discount strength and loan policies have not changed either. However, the sales staff at all three stores told Jia Shi Pai that they have received news from the manufacturers that they will reduce production in the future. As the number of cars in the stores decreases, it is indeed very likely that the discount strength will be further reduced.

This means that there is some truth to the price increase of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi, but it is not happening now. If there are people who plan to buy a car in the near future and like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi, now might be the best time to "bottom fish for Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi."

As for consumer reactions, Jia Shi Pai conducted store visits from 4 pm to 6 pm on the same day, staying at each store for about half an hour. It was observed that the flow of customers in the three stores was not large, with basically only 1-2 groups of customers entering the store. Sales staff also said that after the news of the price increase was announced, the number of customers coming to see the cars did not increase significantly.Audi Q4 e-tron starts at less than 180,000, even more cost-effective than MINI!

 

Recently, major car brands have announced their half-year sales data, but Audi has been slow to disclose its sales volume in China.

 

However, the official website of FAW-Audi recently announced that the cumulative sales of FAW-Audi have officially broken through the 9 million mark. In the first six months of this year, the monthly sales volume of the Audi A6L exceeded 14,000 units, and the Audi Q5L family's monthly sales volume exceeded 11,000 units. In addition, the Audi A4L model's sales volume in June returned to over 10,000 units, reaching 10,744 units.

 

This performance is greatly related to the current high discount margins of Audi. Jia Shi Pai has learned that the terminal discount margins for the three fuel models of Audi are all over 120,000 yuan. Among them, the starting price of the A4L entry version is 198,000 yuan, the starting price of the A6L entry version is 298,000 yuan, and the starting price of the Q5L entry version is 268,000 yuan, with no tightening of the discount margins.

 

Looking at the new energy models, the current discount margin for the Audi Q4 e-tron at the terminal has exceeded 110,000 yuan, with the highest discount margin nearing 130,000 yuan. Specifically, the long-range entry version's installment price is less than 180,000 yuan; the guide price of the Creation Edition is 317,100 yuan, and the current discount can reach 127,100 yuan, with the car price only needing 190,000 yuan. There is also an insurance and delivery service fee upon landing, adding up to less than 10,000 yuan. The loan term is 60 periods, so the monthly payment is less than 4,000 yuan. There is no penalty for early repayment after two years, and it supports a zero down payment plan, making it very cost-effective, even more so than MINI.BMW iX3 incentives have been somewhat retracted compared to June, with the fastest delivery time being 1 month.

The BMW, which was the first to circulate rumors of price increases, was found by AutoStyle to not have actually raised prices after an on-site visit. However, the discount for some models has indeed been reduced compared to last month, and this is because there are no current cars available in the store.

Sales staff informed AutoStyle that, like Audi, BMW now also offers a zero down payment plan, but it is only available for the X1, X2, X3, and iX1, iX3 models, and the loan term for the zero down payment plan is only 36 months.

Specifically for each model, the current iX3 installment discount can exceed 150,000 yuan, with the minimum down payment being 10%, and the loan period being 60 months. There is no penalty for early repayment after two years, in addition to an insurance and service fee, which together amount to about 10,000 yuan.

However, this discount has been reduced compared to the discount of over 160,000 yuan last month. Sales staff indicated that this is because there are no current iX3 cars in the store, the sales pressure is not high, so the discount has been reduced, and the fastest delivery time is also 1 month. Therefore, if the manufacturer reduces production in the future, it is highly likely that the discount will further decrease.Additionally, mainstay models like the BMW 5 Series, due to their relatively stable production, also have a relatively stable discount range. Currently, the discount on the BMW 5 Series can reach around 110,000 yuan, with the entry-level model's on-road price being less than 380,000 yuan.

From this, it can also be seen that the terminal price of a model from a traditional luxury brand is actually greatly related to its production volume, that is, the supply and demand relationship—when supply exceeds demand, dealers face high inventory pressure and naturally have to lower prices; conversely, they raise prices.

It is worth mentioning that BMW's sales staff have indicated that many dealers are currently selling cars at a loss, with new energy vehicles losing more than fuel vehicles, necessitating a reduction in production to maintain prices.

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Mercedes-Benz's entire lineup has not increased in price, but the manufacturer has already hinted at expectations for reduced production.Mercedes-Benz terminals currently have not increased prices across the board, but have indicated an expectation of reduced production, and future discount levels may be reined in.

It is understood that the current discount for the Mercedes-Benz C-Class is around 110,000 yuan, while the discount at the beginning of the year was only 80,000 yuan. The discount for the Mercedes-Benz E-Class is over 80,000 yuan, and the EQE model's discount is as high as 150,000 yuan, at an all-time low price.

Like Audi and BMW, Mercedes-Benz also currently supports a zero down payment plan, and the loan term will not be shortened, with a maximum loan period of up to 60 months. However, the requirements for the customer's bank statements are higher, and there will be no penalty for early repayment after two years.

In addition, Mercedes-Benz has some promotional policies, such as the regular Class A maintenance service for the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, with a single cost of about 2,000 yuan. Now, you can purchase four maintenance services at once (including two Class A maintenances and two Class B maintenances) for a total price of just over 4,000 yuan.

It is worth mentioning that Mercedes-Benz sales personnel revealed that due to the significant discount levels, apart from new energy models, the sales performance of Mercedes-Benz's two fuel-powered sedans - the C-Class and E-Class - has been quite good recently.Conclusion by Jia Shi

Overall, it appears that the production cut by Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi is almost certain, which implies that a reduction in future discount offers is also highly likely.

It seems that Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi indeed no longer wish to continue the price war and aim to maintain their brand image by reducing production and preserving pricing.

Although Audi has not disclosed specific sales figures, judging from the sales performance of BMW and Mercedes-Benz, the sales of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi in the first half of this year are not very optimistic.

Among them, BMW (including MINI) sold 375,900 vehicles in the Chinese market in the first half of the year, a year-on-year decrease of 4.2%, while global sales increased by 2%. Mercedes-Benz sold 352,600 vehicles in China in the first half of this year, lower than the 377,200 vehicles sold last year.Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi's declining sales in China is an undeniable fact. However, from the perspective of this visit to the end stores, continuing to wage a price war will only exacerbate the situation, not only will the business conditions of dealers further deteriorate, but it will also cause a serious blow to the brand image.

For Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi, it is a more correct move to announce the stabilization of the pricing system at this time, gradually reduce production to retract discount strength.

So, what are you waiting for, friends who want to get a Mercedes-Benz, BMW, or Audi? Now is the best time to "bottom fish" for Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi.