Can I also sing karaoke in the car? It is a question that a European dealer will never get when a customer comes to pick out a new car. But in China, buyers insist on a model that supports karaoke apps. And in this area, Western brands miss out on great opportunities.
China is the largest car market in the world. And buyers there clearly have different preferences than in Europe or the United States, for example. An example of this are the long-wheelbase models that Western manufacturers offer. BMW has a 3-series L in the Chinese delivery program, Peugeot a 508 L and Range Rover even an Evoque L. Do Chinese consumers need more legroom behind? No, the extended models are purely a status symbol.
Chinese car brands are already installing karaoke microphones in their models
Recently, Chinese car buyers have also started asking for karaoke apps, such as Changba. Local manufacturers such as BYD, Nio and XPeng jump in and offer their models with karaoke microphones, but Western manufacturers have so far failed. “This is a big challenge for us,” BMW tech boss Christoph Grote told Automotive News. “Chinese customers are the most demanding in the world when it comes to in-car digital technology.”
Western manufacturers are hugely dependent on the Chinese market
And no matter how ridiculous in-car karaoke sounds to Western ears, manufacturers like BMW and Volkswagen will have to offer the option anyway. BMW sells 36 percent of all its cars in China. At Volkswagen, that percentage is even 40 percent. Both are thus disproportionately dependent on the Chinese market. Because if you’re wondering where those huge BMW grilles come from? They are there to satisfy the Chinese taste of lavishness and ‘look at me being rich’.