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Old 20th May 2012, 13:37   #1
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BMW x1- Beggar's Edition China

Source:IAB

Luxury car maker is looking to launch a stripped down version of their x1 in China named ‘Qi Gai Ban’ which translates into ‘Beggar edition.’

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Luxury marquees are very fastidious about their image. In fact, the make sure that they drape every slightest negative term such as ‘stripped out’ with extremely positive words like ‘Corporate Edition’. But then again, they have to because they are not selling cars, they are selling aspirations.
But whose aspirations would lead them to buy this BMW X1 Beggar’s Edition? According to ChinaCarTimes, BMW will soon launch a BMW X1 ‘Qi Gai Ban’ which translates into ‘Beggar edition.’ As the name suggests, it does not have much in terms of equipment. The headlamps have been replaced with simple units. The head lamp washers have been ditched and so is the tail lamps braking light.On the inside, the steering mounted controls, GPS/Entertainment console, leather trimming, automatic gear box – all of them gone!
Should BMW consider launching something similar on the Indian shores? A strip down variant of the same could start at 20L.
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BMW x1- Beggar's Edition China-bmwx1beggarseditionchina1300x225.jpg  

BMW x1- Beggar's Edition China-bmwx1beggarseditionchina2300x225.jpg  

BMW x1- Beggar's Edition China-bmwx1beggarseditionchina3300x225.jpg  


Last edited by Y@SH : 20th May 2012 at 13:46.
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Old 20th May 2012, 14:25   #2
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Re: BMW x1- Beggar's Edition China

China is very big market for any of these German manufacturers to ignore. The reason every time they come up with a new Sedan they make sure to design a special 'L' version for China with longer wheelbase and more legroom.

While a even cheaper X1 for India will add to more sales, but may not be good for BMWs image. I feel the current base version has just the right equipment, it gets all the safety gadgets but loses out more fancy gadgetry. A manual transmission will be good addition though.
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Old 20th May 2012, 16:24   #3
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Re: BMW x1- Beggar's Edition China

Chinese companies making cheap look alikes of other cars is nothing new. Did BMW get wind of something like that, and hence this ?
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Old 20th May 2012, 17:50   #4
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Re: BMW x1- Beggar's Edition China

How can anyone name a car Beggars Edition? very strange and unbelivable.
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Old 20th May 2012, 21:49   #5
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Re: BMW x1- Beggar's Edition China

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Originally Posted by patil View Post
How can anyone name a car Beggars Edition? very strange and unbelivable.
Probably so that the image conscious Chinese wont buy this edition and would be taken by the middle class guy who would be happy to lap up a Beemer at a much lesser price!
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Old 20th May 2012, 23:07   #6
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Re: BMW x1- Beggar's Edition China

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Originally Posted by patil View Post
How can anyone name a car Beggars Edition? very strange and unbelivable.
Well, I think "beggar's edition" is just a colloquial term in China to describe a stripped-down car. No body in their right senses would officially call their variant "beggar's edition". From original article:

BMW China | BMW readying ‘beggar edition’ X1 SUV for China | China Car Times - China Auto News

Quote:
How do you say poverty specification, i.e. the lowest possible specification of a car in Chinese? Well you call it 乞丐版 (Qi Gai Ban) which translates into beggar edition. The X1 already weighs in at under 300,000RMB for the base model in rear wheel drive model only, the 2.0T jumps in at 360,000RMB but all come with automatic gearboxes as standard, for those that have a love of shifting their own cogs they will have to wait until later this year when BMW launch a manual version, aka the Beggar Version.
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Old 20th May 2012, 23:34   #7
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Re: BMW x1- Beggar's Edition China

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Originally Posted by funkmeister View Post
Probably so that the image conscious Chinese wont buy this edition and would be taken by the middle class guy who would be happy to lap up a Beemer at a much lesser price!
If a middle class guy is buying a BMW "Beggar's Edition" to have an upmarket feel and better reputation, let me tell you he has zero self respect! I mean why would any person in their right sense of mind buy a car which is insulting them and is depreciating their respect in theirs and others' eyes?? It is down right embarrassing and simply ridiculous IMO.

Atleast in India they call the stripped versions Corporate edition which if nothing else is pleasing to the ear and is cool IMO. Thank God they did not name it "Bhikhari Gaadi" in India.
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Old 21st May 2012, 03:14   #8
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Re: BMW x1- Beggar's Edition China

I feel this might not be the perfect car for India. BMW India has gained a brand image higher than the Mercedes , getting a stripped down car with cost cutting involved may harm their premium tag.
Definitely there are positives too , an upper middle class man who dreams of owning a beemer will see his dream coming true.
I am quite not sure how many takers will there be for it if they call it the "Beggars Edition" though.
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Old 21st May 2012, 11:03   #9
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Re: BMW x1- Beggar's Edition China

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Originally Posted by S2!!! View Post
Thank God they did not name it "Bhikhari Gaadi" in India.
That should be Bhikari ki Gaadi.

On a serious note, a lot of people buy these 'high end' beauties for the brand status symbol. For a common man, a 'beggar's edition' and a CE BMW X1 are one and the same. For him, that is a luxury car.

Most people in tier-2 and 3 cities might not be able distinguish between them(no offense to anyone,I am from a tier-2 city). In such cases, the beggar's edition will surely serve the purpose of bringing home the BMW symbol for a lot less money.

For serious guys, it will be frowned at for being not worth the dough.
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Old 21st May 2012, 14:08   #10
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Re: BMW x1- Beggar's Edition China

What is the authenticity of this news. IMO, it seems to be a cheap imitation of X1 made at China.
Whatever, whichever be the market, any automobile company is not going to name the car as beggar edition. It is a spoof for sure!
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Old 21st May 2012, 14:25   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by abhijeetsng
What is the authenticity of this news. IMO, it seems to be a cheap imitation of X1 made at China.
Whatever, whichever be the market, any automobile company is not going to name the car as beggar edition. It is a spoof for sure!
I agree. I dont think this is true. Most probably it is the wrong translation.
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Old 21st May 2012, 17:08   #12
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Re: BMW x1- Beggar's Edition China

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Originally Posted by Y@SH View Post
Should BMW consider launching something similar on the Indian shores? A strip down variant of the same could start at 20L.
They can but with a better name maybe X .5 ?

The name "beggar's edition" would not find a liking with the indian BMW buyers IMHO.

This would be a good move as it would make BMW X1 more affordable and directly compete with Q3.
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Old 21st May 2012, 17:36   #13
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Re: BMW x1- Beggar's Edition China

Quote:
Originally Posted by Y@SH View Post
Luxury car maker is looking to launch a stripped down version of their x1 in China named ‘Qi Gai Ban’ which translates into ‘Beggar edition.’
I don't think BMW is going to name it Qi Gai Ban if it literally means Beggar Edition. Either it's an email forward or a joke, that isn't the official name, or the name does not literally translate to Beggar Edition. Marketing, advertising, and PR folk are smart enough to not ridicule a firm's own products - that certainly doesn't sell. Just look at how many people stay away from the Tata Nano because it has the image of a 1-lakh car but the price tag is well over 1 lakh... calling it a 1-lakh car feels like an insult to the owner of the vehicle.
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Old 21st May 2012, 21:07   #14
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Re: BMW x1- Beggar's Edition China

Quote:
Originally Posted by patil View Post
How can anyone name a car Beggars Edition? very strange and unbelivable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Comrade View Post
Well, I think "beggar's edition" is just a colloquial term in China to describe a stripped-down car. No body in their right senses would officially call their variant "beggar's edition". From original article:
Quote:
Originally Posted by petroheadd View Post
I am quite not sure how many takers will there be for it if they call it the "Beggars Edition" though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ashis89 View Post
On a serious note, a lot of people buy these 'high end' beauties for the brand status symbol. For a common man, a 'beggar's edition' and a CE BMW X1 are one and the same. For him
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Originally Posted by drjanakpatel View Post
I agree. I dont think this is true. Most probably it is the wrong translation.
All,

I checked on this -

The literal translation of ‘Qi Gai Ban’ from Chinese to English using online translators is "Beggar's edition". The colloqial usage or the actual description wise usage refers to "cheapest model / base model". ‘Qi Gai Ban’ is synonymous to what we refer to as bare-bones version / strip-down version. It basically indicates the enty level version for that model.
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Old 24th May 2012, 21:14   #15
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Beggar's edition or whatever. These days the largest consumers of prestige and luxe brands the world over are the Chinese,Japanese, Koreans, Brazilians, Russians and Indians. The thirst for luxe is a long way from being quenched in these countries and hence it seems reasonable that these stripped down versions will find their niche. The choice of nomenclature seems rather unfortunate though!
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