(Yicai) Jan. 13 -- BMW cut the guide prices for 31 of the German carmaker’s models in China at the start of this year, though Yicai found that the reductions have done little to push down the prices buyers actually pay at dealerships.

“The official price adjustment doesn't have a significant impact on dealership prices, especially for popular models,” said Zhang Yu, sales manager at a BMW 4S dealership, noting that for many models the final on-the-road prices are largely unchanged from late last year.

“It’s like a car that used to be listed for CNY100 and sold for CNY60 after a 40 percent discount. Now the official price is listed as CNY70. We give a 15 percent discount and still sell for CNY60,” Zhang said.

According to BMW China’s website, the biggest price reduction is for the premium i7 M70L electric sedan, down 16 percent or CNY301,000 (USD43,150) to CNY1.6 million (USD229,070), while the steepest is for the iX1 eDrive25L electric sports utility vehicle, down 24 percent to CNY228,000.

The changes are part of BMW’s “regular price management,” the automaker told Bloomberg News on Jan. 7, adding that “final transaction prices are independently negotiated and determined between authorized BMW dealers and customers.”

The official price cuts are partly aimed at attracting customer traffic, Zhang said. Potential buyers took note of the reductions, with BMW showrooms busy over the weekend, Yicai found.

Because of strong recent sales and tight availability, the final prices of models such as the 5 Series and X5 have actually gone up by CNY2,000 to CNY3,000 (USD287 to USD430) since last month, Zhang said. The high-performance M series has the biggest discount after the official price adjustment, with the deduction increasing to CNY80,000 from CNY60,000, he said.

The official price cuts are also intended to enable dealers to maintain their profit margins by narrowing discounts, he added. “Dealerships settle payments to the manufacturer based on a percentage of the guide price when picking up cars, so the higher the guide price, the greater the cost,” Zhang said. “Our costs and inventory pressure have eased since the cuts.”

China’s auto market, the world’s largest, is going through a deep adjustment, with new energy vehicles advancing rapidly. Under constant pressure, the high-premium pricing power of luxury brands is weakening. Carmakers such as Mercedes-Benz and Audi have also announced China price cuts. Discounts on Mercedes-Benz’s popular GLC model and Audi’s A6 can reach up to CNY100,000.

China’s NEV adoption rate exceeded 50 percent last month, with brands such as Aito and Tesla directly squeezing the market share of legacy luxury automakers. The average price of a luxury car fell by CNY18,000 (USD2,580) to CNY358,000 last year, according to the China Passenger Car Association.

Editor: Futura Costaglione