MUNICH (Reuters) -BMW is monitoring its highly competitive China market in terms of pricing ahead of the launch of the new iX3 model there next year, head of sales Jochen Goller said on Monday.

"We are seeing incredible price battles," Goller told reporters in Munich, where Europe's biggest car show, the IAA Mobility, is taking place this week.

With its all-electric Neue Klasse series - whose first model, the iX3, was launched on Friday - BMW hopes to return to growth in its largest market China, where sales slumped by 15.5% in the first half of 2025.

Goller declined to comment on how much the iX3 will cost in China. The price is to be set in the first quarter of 2026, ahead of the model's launch there in the second half of next year.

"Of course, we have to look at the market conditions in this competitive environment," he added.

The iX3 is to go on sale in Europe in March 2026 at a price of 68,900 euros ($80,700).

With the first iX3 version, branded as iX3 50, BMW could achieve margins in Germany equal to combustion engine equivalents -- so-called margin parity -- already in 2026, CFO Walter Mertl said.