The Ultimate Stretched Machine – BMW’s lengthened 3 Series for China

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BMW have lost major ground to Audi’s in the fight for the compact luxury car, except there is nothing compact about the fight, its all about being stretched for the rear passengers legs. Audi launched the A6L in China in 2005 which gave Chinese consumers which at the time were mostly government users with chauffeurs a taste of the L, later Audi launched the A4 in regular size but did not hit the big time until they launched the A4 in L version, the A4L rocked the segment and has become one of Audi’s best selling vehicles. BMW’s 3 series and Mercedes’ C-Class models are just too compact for China and both trail a long way behind Audi’s run away A4L. BMW have announced that they would stretch the 3-Series for the Chinese market and this is the second time that the new 3-series has been shown in stretched form. The Chinese market isn’t likely to get the new 3-series until a new factory that is being constructed between Brilliance and BMW has been finished, in the meantime the Chinese market is relying on imported models to fill the gap.

The stretched 3-series is likely to be a popular model when it launches with a 2.0T four cylinder engine, however BMW’s branding as a show off or fancy brand maybe detrimental to gaining those governmental and business users, Audi’s brand image as a bland governmental car was what helped it win market share with governmental and then later business users.