(Yicai) Dec. 6 -- Increasingly steep discounts are being offered on BMW cars in China, as foreign brands struggle amid stiff price competition in the country’s electric vehicle market.

One 4S dealer in Zhejiang province in eastern China recently garnered much attention by offering the German luxury brand’s i3 model at a discount of as much as 60 percent.

The steep price cut was limited to Zhejiang so far, and only two cars were on sale at the reduced price of CNY159,000 (USD21,890). The other i3s still cost closer to what they do in other regions, the staff at the dealer in Jiaxing told Yicai yesterday.

The BMW i3 is a pure electric sedan, with an official starting price of CNY353,900 (USD48,725). But at present, most 4S stores in China are selling it at a 40 percent discount, so the actual price is around CNY200,000.

China’s EV market is one of the largest and fastest-growing in the world. The traditional foreign carmakers, particularly luxury brands such as BMW, face tough competition from domestic EV makers such as BYD, Nio, and Xpeng.

In the past two months, Singaporean dealer German Automobile International has closed all of its BMW outlets in China, including nine 4S stores and the world’s first BMW 5S store in Beijing.

To ease the pressure on dealers, BMW lifted the requirement to offer steep discounts that resulted in them losing money in July and cancelled their sales targets in the third quarter. But sales still fell 30 percent from a year ago to 147,691 last quarter, dragging down BMW’s global sales by 13 percent.

In response, BMW plans to launch a new generation of models worldwide next year and will start production of at least six models in the next two years. These will be equipped with new electric architecture and electric drive battery systems. Some 70 percent of the smart cockpit's features will be developed by BMW’s China team.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Tom Litting