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Economic Observer Network reporter Zhou Ju German luxury car brand BMW recently announced that it will further increase investment in the Chinese market and strengthen China's position as its three major new energy vehicle production bases in the world.
At BMW's recent "Cloud Gathering" bmw 2022 "Happy Family Banquet", DR. Peter, global finance director of BMW Group, announced that in 2022, BMW Group will usher in the opening of three new or upgraded new factories in Shenyang and Zhangjiagang, and put into operation the second BMW pure electric vehicle in Shenyang. According to another introduction, by 2025, a quarter of BMW's sales in the Chinese market will be pure electric vehicles.
Behind the continuous increase in investment in China, China's position in BMW's global strategy is continuing to increase. The data shows that in the first three quarters of this year, BMW delivered one out of every three cars to Chinese customers. According to the data, BMW delivered a total of 1.932 million vehicles to the world in the first three quarters, of which 669,600 were delivered to China.
"China has become a global leader in electric vehicles and a key driver of digitalization. In the BMW Group's transformation to electrification, digitalization and sustainable development, China is the best choice and partner. "Gao Le, President and CEO of the BMW Group Greater China, directly pointed out the importance of China in the development of the BMW Group.
Based on the emphasis on the Chinese market, at this event, BMW announced that it will further upgrade its China strategy. The upgraded China strategy can be described in terms of the number "12345". Among them, "1" refers to the principle of "China first"; "2" refers to the fact that both BMW and MINI brands must be rooted in China; "3" refers to the firm transformation along the three directions of electrification, digitalization and sustainability; "4" refers to the four innovative research and development bases in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang and Nanjing; "5" refers to the five pure electric vehicle models that will be provided to Chinese customers in 2022.
The comprehensive upgrading of China's strategy means that BMW will further implement the principle of "China first" in the future. BMW said that the company's strategy will be highly synergistic with China's development goals, giving priority to the needs of the Chinese market in new product development. This will be embodied in several ways.
First of all, accelerate the pace of pure electric products in China. According to BMW, in 2021, the bmw iX3 is expected to sell 20,000 units in the first full sales year; in 2022, the BMW brand will provide Chinese users with five pure electric models, including the innovative BMW iX, the innovative BMW i4, and the pure electric BMW 3 series to be produced in Shenyang. By the end of 2023, the BMW Group will offer 13 pure electric products in the Chinese market.
At the same time, BMW strengthens its partnership with domestic battery companies, energy companies and high-tech enterprises, develops the upstream and downstream industrial chain of green electric mobility, and enhances its strength in the research and development, production and service of electric vehicles. According to the data, in 2017, BMW Brilliance, a joint venture, has taken the lead in establishing a power battery center in luxury brands, and completed the second phase of the project in 2020, with a cumulative production of more than 100,000 power batteries. By the end of 2021, BMW will have 360,000 public charging piles. In addition, BMW will continue to promote the upgrading of its sales and service network nationwide.
"China First" will also be reflected in the new pure electric platform released by BMW. In 2025, the BMW Group will release "new generation" models, and during the development of "new generation" models, the specific needs of the Chinese market will continue to be at the forefront.
According to BMW, the "New Generation" new architecture of the pure electric platform with a completely redesigned IT and software architecture, a new high-performance electric drive system and batteries, and a sustainable benchmark for the circular economy will greatly increase the use of recyclable materials. "The 'new generation' model will be a key driver for BMW to deliver 10 million pure electric vehicles over the next 10 years." Gao Le said.
Recently, the equity adjustment of BMW Brilliance has attracted much attention. According to the strategic agreement signed between BMW and Brilliance Group, Brilliance Auto will sell 25% of the equity of BMW Brilliance to BMW Brilliance Group by 2022, and after the completion of the share ratio adjustment, BMW Group and Brilliance Auto will hold 75% and 25% of the shares of BMW Brilliance respectively, and BMW will officially become the first multinational luxury car brand to hold a joint venture car company. However, at present, the bankruptcy reorganization plan of Brilliance Group has been postponed twice, and it is believed that it may affect the process of BMW Brilliance's equity adjustment.