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BMW Chief Says China-Made iX3 Will Stay Profitable Despite Deep Price Cuts
BMW CEO Milan Nedeljković expects the long-wheelbase iX3 built in Shenyang to remain profitable even as it undercuts European and American pricing by tens of thousands of euros, crediting local production and supply chains.
By Edward Beaumont · 4 min read
BMW expects to make money on the long-wheelbase iX3 it builds and sells in China, even though the electric SUV costs far less there than equivalent models in Europe and North America. Chief executive Milan Nedeljković said the company «naturally assumes» the vehicle, known internally by the codename NA6, will turn a profit, pointing to local manufacturing, local supply chains and technology sourced from Chinese partners.
The car is central to BMW's effort to reverse a steep decline in the world's largest automotive market, where its sales have slipped dramatically over recent years. The company is counting on the Neue Klasse generation of electric vehicles to reset its position in China, and the iX3 is the first model to carry that strategy into showrooms.
The price gap is striking. The long-wheelbase iX3 starts at RMB 269,900 in China, equivalent to roughly $40,200 or €35,400. That is well below the standard-wheelbase iX3 40 sold in Germany, which begins at €63,400. The comparison is not exact, because the Chinese entry model is an iX3 30 fitted with an LFP battery that BMW does not offer elsewhere. Even so, the equipment list is generous: heated front and rear seats, ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, three-zone climate control and a Harman Kardon sound system are all standard.
The gap persists further up the range. The iX3 40L xDrive starts at RMB 299,900, or about $44,700 and €39,200, against €63,400 for the rear-wheel-drive, standard-wheelbase iX3 40 in Germany. The iX3 50L xDrive is priced from RMB 339,900, roughly $50,600 or €44,500, compared with $62,850 in the United States and €70,900 in Germany for its regular-wheelbase counterpart. Chinese buyers also receive a larger, more spacious vehicle, and official photographs suggest a more upmarket interior.
Nedeljković attributed the profitability to BMW's «local-for-local» approach. The iX3 is manufactured at the company's Shenyang plant and was developed specifically for Chinese customers, using local production capacity, local supply chains and technology from Chinese partners. That structure, he argued, allows BMW to compete on price without abandoning margin.
Speaking to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the chief executive said customer interest in the Neue Klasse in China was already strong before the market launch, particularly for the locally adapted iX3. He rejected direct comparisons between Chinese and European product offerings, noting that vehicles are configured for their respective markets and that prices reflect local competitive conditions rather than a single global standard.
He also warned that the current state of the Chinese market cannot last. Hyper-competition there has produced a price war that he described as at times ruinous, and he said such conditions are not sustainable indefinitely. China remains the BMW Group's largest single market and a key pillar of its business, but profit margins are under pressure, and the company is working to cut costs both in China and at its other locations.
The long-wheelbase iX3 will not remain exclusive to China. BMW has said it will sell the model in other markets, though not in major regions such as Europe or North America, which will continue to receive the standard-wheelbase version. The company is expected to follow a similar approach with other models, including an extra-long i3, codenamed NA8, that is likely to be limited to a handful of markets.
Source: bmwblog.com
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