BMW Offering Stretch 335Li In China

[AVANTI R5]

With Audi offering an A4L in China, BMW naturally has to get in on the act. Now that a new, locally made 3-Series is debuting, BMW will offer a 335Li for customers who want to be driven, rather than drive the…erm…Ultimate Driving Machine.

The car will be made in collaboration with local joint venture partner Brilliance. The 335i was apparently an import in previous generation, but the 335i will be made locally. While the A4L starts at RMB272,800 (about $43,000 USD), pricing for an E90 3-Series (not the F30 pictured above) starts at RMB299,800 ($47,000 USD) all the way up to RMB626,200 ($99,000) for an imported 335i. Expect the new F30 cars to start below RMB300,000.

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[Len]

We are going through an odd phase. There is nothing new about a developing country having a 3rd-worldy taste for turning everything into a vulgar display of status and money (as opposed to the 1st world taste for turning everything into a sophisticated display of status and money), but never before the rise of China did a market with a third world taste come to dominate the world economy. I think this will affect not just the products designed specifically for the Chinese market, but the overall trend of many industries.

[bal00]

Originally Posted by Len

We are going through an odd phase. There is nothing new about a developing country having a 3rd-worldy taste for turning everything into a vulgar display of status and money

Huh? The cars are stretched because the owner sits in the back, not because stretched cars are a display of wealth. Seems like a pretty practical approach to me, and if you live in a country where driving is a PITA and a driver for a year costs about the same as a factory nav unit, why not?

[BlaineWasHere]

Originally Posted by bal00

Huh? The cars are stretched because the owner sits in the back, not because stretched cars are a display of wealth. Seems like a pretty practical approach to me, and if you live in a country where driving is a PITA and a driver for a year costs about the same as a factory nav unit, why not?

Do you realize sitting in the back IS showing wealth?

[Len]

Originally Posted by bal00

Huh? The cars are stretched because the owner sits in the back, not because stretched cars are a display of wealth. Seems like a pretty practical approach to me, and if you live in a country where driving is a PITA and a driver for a year costs about the same as a factory nav unit, why not?

Well, hiring a chauffeur itself is, while a lot more common in developing countries, still a display of wealth. But I agree it can make practical sense too since labor is cheap in china.

What I was responding to was the fact that people are choosing a stretched 3er to be chauffeured around in. While you always pay for the badge with these premium cars, they are also supposed to be better at certain things than normal cars, thereby justifying at least a part of the price premium. It just seems to me like what the 3 series is good at has so little value to the passenger in the back that it makes me think that it's about as badge whorey as you can get.

[tibug]

Drrrrrrrrr weird. Different strokes for different folks.

[bugeye829]

do they not get the 5 or 7 over there?

[lawn boy]

they have stetched 5 series over there too, kind of odd since the current 5 series swb is pretty close in size to a 7 series already.

[Len]

Originally Posted by bugeye829

do they not get the 5 or 7 over there?

Probably what this is that many Chinese companies want to to have BMWs as their company cars for executives, but they don't want to spend 5 series money. That would be my guess. Again, it's all about the badge.

When I was little and living in S. Korea, the streets were littered with huge (Korean) cars with tiny engines and gaudy hood ornaments. Of course if you were worth anything, your company gave you one of these cars with a chauffeur. Back then in Korea, imported cars were way too expensive so they didn't really matter to the "ordinary important" people. I think the situation in China is rather similar, except of course China is a huge market and all the top companies in the world are producing things catered to the Chinese taste. And China is also not nearly as protectionist as Japan and Korea were when they were going through industrialization.

[White out]

The 5 and 7 are probably a bitch to get around the cities in vs. a longer 3. Totally market specific focus with this one.

Nick

[Almost a Ghost]

Is there some kind of tax and/or insurance loophole they are exploiting based on platform?

[Derbagger]

Originally Posted by Almost a Ghost

Is there some kind of tax and/or insurance loophole they are exploiting based on platform?

All the german marques sell a mid size lwb in china, 5-series, A6, E-class...even the STS had one.

This just looks like a push for the trend in a narrower vehicle. The 5 grew quite a bit so there may have been need for a car with rear legroom that wasn't so wide. I know in European cities vehicle width is a huge concern as it would exclude you from some streets.