BMW Isn’t Crazy: It’s China-Centric

Once again, BMW has managed to set the internet on fire when releasing a new model. Thousands of car enthusiasts have taken to social media to complain about the design of the new i7 and its kidney grille of gargantuan proportions.

The BMW 4 Series already featured a huge beaver-teeth-inspired grille, to dismay of many prospective buyers. While these people were not impressed with BMW’s design choice, BMW remained unapologetic, going as far as to issue press statements acknowledging that the design was polarising, but also that this was intentional.

One could have thought that the loud backlash after this design would stop the design trend of the maxi-grille, but it didn’t: BMW doubled down on its vision with the iX, the X7, and now with the i7.

The iX didn’t create such ripples in the blogosphere, mostly because it’s an SUV and self-professed car enthusiasts don’t care about SUVs. At least, not about people-movers without off-road abilities, or if they do, they try not to be vocal about it lest someone call them out on their taste.

However, the iX’s grille had something markedly different to the 4 Series: The iX is electric. This means that the grille is totally unnecessary, and it cannot be explained away: it’s purely a design element.

So why would BMW add deliberately a design element that had already received open criticism and backlash, if it doesn’t even serve a function?

It could be argued that SUVs are a saturated market and every bold, radical design element serves to capture the attention of the prospective buyer. This is potentially the same reason why the front grilles have kept gaining more and more real estate in the front of today’s SUVs and pick-up trucks.

We could also say that these potential buyers of SUVs are typically not the traditional stereotype of a car enthusiast. Sure, there are some SUVs that have been designed to try to appease the traditionalists, but that’s normally not the case.

However, this explanation doesn’t cut it when we move to the i7, the electric new generation of the 7 Series. Luxury sedans are a market that has traditionally favoured understatement and elegance. Yes, big and sporty multi-spoke rims are now a trend, but look at the S-Class, arguably the King of Luxury Sedans:

Mercedes-Benz, which has been on a mission to spice up their cars for the last ten years and has had great success at driving up their sales, still keeps their all-new S-Class reasonably understated. They do this for a reason, and they trust that their understatement is going to achieve more sales. Remember this is not the old, bland Mercedes from the 80’s. We’re now talking about a brand that chooses to release press images of their sporty models in bright yellow, yet still opts for understatement for their luxury sedan.

Other brands like Lexus have had a negative effect on their sales because of the traditional buyer of these cars finds them way too bold. Yet they still do it on an effort to capture a minority of the market, a connoisseur that doesn’t settle for the “default German luxury sedan”. There, the grille serves as a strong identity sign to separate themselves from the rest.

Now circling back to BMW. BMW is far from being Lexus, far from being the different alternative, far from being a brand that only connoisseurs know.

The most interesting explanation comes from the sales numbers. In 2021, almost 40% of BMW’s sales came from China. Not only that, but its growth in the Chinese market is such that if current market growth trends continue, by 2023 the brand will sell more vehicles in China than in all of Europe combined.

What makes China particularly interesting in this context is that Sedans are still strong in that market. While SUVs have been gaining ground pretty much as decidedly as in any other country, sales of sedan models are still sizeable.

So what we are seeing here is BMW adapting their design language to the Chinese tastes, which are markedly different to those of the North American and European markets. While USA tolerates bolder, flashier designs, Europe as a whole is a lot more traditional. Neither of these regions is comparable to the radical tastes of China, however.

Last year, BMW released a China-only special edition of its 7-Series called Shining Shadow, an ultra-luxury variant that sold for twice the price of a standard 7-Series. Just look at the press image:

The two-tone combination is striking, and a lot more attention-grabbing that what would be considered acceptable in Europe. Granted, many luxury brands offer the possibility of bespoke colour combinations. The Rolls-Royce Ghost even comes with a two-tone paint as standard. But compare their press release images to those of BMW:

Blue and black, silver, or dark green fills the pages of the Rolls Royce Press Room website, despite the fact that they allow colour combinations that will appease those who are more interested in bold and unconventional paint choices.

BMW is not playing that game: BMW isn’t interested in keeping a Sedan market in Europe that is dying, and the brand is trying to maximise is growth in China instead. This is why the i7, a car that is electric and therefore doesn’t need a grille at all is getting a humongous design element that serves as a status symbol. A flashy monster that illuminates so that everyone on the road can recognise you can afford a BMW. An aberration in the eyes of Europeans that is punctuated by “BMW Iconic Glow Crystal Headlights with Swarovski Crystal Elements”.

That is how proud BMW is of their design, and that’s how you know they haven’t gone crazy: they’ve just foregone Europe.