AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)04/21 Report--

On April 20, the new generation of BMW 7-Series made its debut in China. The new car is the seventh generation of BMW 7-Series products, based on the new generation CLAR architecture, with a new design style for appearance and interior. the power will provide consumers with fuel version, pure electric version (BMW i7) and plug-in hybrid version for consumers to choose from. According to BMW's official website, the cash on sale of the BMW 7-Series is priced at 82.8-2.612 million yuan in the Chinese market, and the new generation of BMW 7-Series is expected to be close to the cash model.

Although there have been market revelations before the release, the front face styling of the new generation of BMW 7-Series has brought a lot of impact. From the point of view of the real car on the spot, the new generation BMW 7-Series retains the design concept of double-kidney grille while magnifying its size, and it is also decorated with a circular light belt, which is officially called the "circular bright grille". Compared with the double-kidney grille, the new generation of BMW 7-Series uses split headlights, in which the upper two-stage daytime driving lights are crystal clear, and the lower far and near light groups are integrated with the bumper when the state is off. This design style is basically the same as the medium-term modified BMW X7.

On the side of the body, the new BMW 7-Series C-column uses a similar slip-back styling design, as well as an embedded door handle similar to the BMW iX. In the rear part, the new generation of BMW 7-Series adopts a narrower taillight group shape, which reduces the hierarchy of the whole rear and adopts hidden exhaust layout at the same time. In terms of size, the length, width and height of the new BMW 7-series long axle version are 5391/1950/1548mm and the wheelbase is 3215mm, which is larger than that of the previous BMW 7-series long-wheelbase model. Compared with Mercedes-Benz S-class long wheelbase and Audi A8L, except that the wheelbase is similar to Mercedes-Benz S-class long wheelbase models, the other three data are in the leading position.

It has to be said that the design innovation of the new generation of BMW 7-Series has indeed subverted the perception, but the comments brought about by this subversion are also varied and mixed, and netizens have expressed their views on the styling design of the new generation of BMW 7-Series.

In terms of interior, the new BMW 7-Series uses a dual screen design of 12.3 inches and 14.9 inches, which can be seen on the medium-term revamped BMW X7 and BMW IX, and a large number of crystal accessories are used in the car to enhance the sense of luxury. At the same time, it is equipped with a flat-bottomed multi-function steering wheel, following the principle of "Shy Tech" invisible technology, the number of physical keys of the whole vehicle has been greatly reduced, and the center console has indeed simplified a lot compared with previous models. In addition, the back row is also the highlight of the new BMW 7-Series, which features a "suspended screen" integrated on the top of the vehicle, a 31-inch 8K resolution display and 32:9 panoramic mode.

In the power part, the new BMW 7-Series will provide fuel version, pure electric version (BMW i7) and plug-in hybrid version for consumers to choose from. Among them, the fuel version of the BMW 7-Series will be equipped with a 3.0T in-line six-cylinder turbocharged engine (B58) and the new V8 engine, the 3.0T engine will be available in high and low power versions, and the 4.4T V8 engine will be upgraded based on the current N63 engine. The transmission system will still match the eight-speed manual transmission. The pure electric version of the BMW i7 is equipped with the fifth generation eDrive electric drive system, with a pure electric range of more than 600km, the dual-motor version of the maximum power 400kw, acceleration time of 0-100km / h is 4.7s, and the lowest energy consumption of 100km is 18.4kWh (the above data are European specifications, Chinese models are subject to listing announcement).

The data show that the BMW 7 Series is the top flagship car of the BMW Group, which is only produced in Germany. The first generation model was born in 1977, the second generation BMW 7 Series was launched in 1986, the third generation model was launched in 1994, the fourth generation model was launched in 2002, the fifth generation model was launched in 2009, the sixth generation model was launched in 2015, and the BMW 7 Series currently on sale in China is the sixth generation mid-term modified model, launched in 2019. According to the rhythm of BMW Group's product planning, the life cycle of the model is about seven years, and the new seventh-generation BMW 7-Series (G70/G71) will be launched this year.

The most direct competitors of the BMW 7-Series are the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and the Audi A8L, of which the Mercedes-Benz S-Class will be launched in China on January 29, 2021, while the Audi A8 will also launch a medium-term revamped model this year. Data show that the risks of Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7-Series and Audi A8L in the domestic market in 2021 are 23456, 22287 and 15646 respectively, while those of the three models in the first quarter of this year are 6399, 4157 and 3469 respectively. Judging from the data, the sales of the BMW 7-Series have always been lower than that of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, and it is unclear whether the changes in the appearance and interior of the new generation of BMW 7-Series will lead to a new market situation.

With the development of electrification trend, luxury brand manufacturers have launched the layout of pure electric flagship cars. As the pure electric version of the new BMW 7-Series, the BMW i7 is basically the same as the fuel version in appearance and interior. the competitors will still be the old rival Mercedes-Benz EQS (107.96-1.5186 million yuan) and the Audi Grandsphereproduction version that will be put into production in the future. Looking at the whole automobile market, BBA, which has occupied a dominant position in the field of fuel vehicles, whether it can complete the "elephant turn" to win the market position of pure electric luxury cars will be an important focus of the automobile market in the next five to ten years. By the end of 2025, BMW expects to deliver a total of 2 million pure electric vehicles worldwide, with one out of every four new cars sold in China.

Mr. Gaulle, President and CEO of BMW Group Greater China, said: "the engineering development of the new BMW 7 series is in Germany and the design is inspired by China. China is not only the largest market in the world, but also the leader of automobile design trend in the future. "

On April 8th, BMW Group released figures showing that a total of 596907 new cars (including MINI and Rolls-Royce) were sold worldwide in the first quarter of 2022, down 6.2 per cent from a year earlier. In the Chinese market, BMW sold 208507 vehicles (including the MINI brand) in the first quarter, down 9.2% from a year earlier, surpassing Mercedes-Benz and Audi.

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat