At the 2022 BMW Group Annual Meeting, BMW Group Chairman Chiptzer said that in the 2021 fiscal year, the BMW Group's global sales of new energy vehicles increased by 70%, exceeding 320,000 units, becoming one of the most important growth points of the BMW Group.
Considering that China's luxury car market has maintained rapid growth for three consecutive years and the market space is still large, the Chinese market and China's power will play a more important and critical role in the BMW Group's 2022 development plan.
Since 2018, the global passenger car market has continued to decline, and the competition in the stock market has further intensified. In contrast with the trend of the broader market, China's luxury car market has maintained an average annual growth rate of 11% for three consecutive years, and the upward trend against the trend is obvious.
"The luxury car market is resilient, and the scissors gap with the growth rate of the market has expanded, especially the contribution of high-tier cities has been significant, and it will become a major driving force for the growth of the car market in the future." On the subject, auto industry analyst Liu Zhichao said.
In Liu Zhichao's view, residents' disposable income and consumption level are important factors affecting the development of the luxury car industry. With the development of the national economy, the upgrading of residents' consumption and the more reasonable price of luxury cars, the scale and potential of the luxury car market have been effectively guaranteed.
It is worth noting that China's luxury car sales share will account for about 14% in 2020, compared with 23% in the UK and 20% in Germany, there is still room for further improvement in China's luxury car market share.
As a representative enterprise in the luxury car brand, BMW once again set a new high in the Chinese market in 2021, delivering a total of 846,200 BMW and MINI cars, an increase of 8.9% year-on-year, ranking first in the sales list of luxury car brands in China.
Recently, the BMW Group held its annual financial report meeting and announced the report card for 2021. According to the report, bmw group global sales exceeded 2.52 million units in 2021, an increase of 8.4% year-on-year; total revenue reached 111.239 billion euros, an increase of 12.4% year-on-year. At the same time, the net profit reached 12.463 billion euros, an increase of 223.1% year-on-year, a new historical record, which also aroused widespread concern.
Electrification has become the new core of the BMW Group's development
"In the past fiscal year 2021, the BMW Group's global sales of new energy vehicles increased by 70% to more than 320,000 units, which has also become one of the most important growth points for the BMW Group." At the 2022 BMW Group Financial Report Annual Meeting, BMW Group Chairman Chiptzer said.
In order to continue this momentum, the BMW Group will accelerate the expansion of its pure electric product lineup. The reporter learned that in 2022, BMW Group will mass-produce and trial-produce pure electric vehicle models up to 15 models, covering about 90% of the market segment.
In addition to the innovative BMW iX, innovative BMW i4, BMW iX3 and other models that have already been launched, there are also pure electric models of the BMW 3 Series, BMW 5 Series, BMW X1 and other series. One of the most notable is the innovative pure electric BMW i7 that will debut in the world in April along with the new BMW 7 Series.
"The Innovation BMW iX and The Innovation BMW i4 are widely acclaimed, as evidenced by the strong customer demand in itself. This year, the all-electric BMW i7 will take BMW electric models to new heights and will be an important part of our continued success and leading change. Ziptzer introduced.
The new BMW 7 Series is the next trump card in bmw's successful growth strategy in the luxury car segment, and will be the first luxury car in the BMW luxury segment to offer an internal combustion engine, plug-in hybrid and pure electric drive.
In addition, the "next generation" model based on the new structure and equipped with the sixth-generation eDrive electric drive system will usher in the first trial production model in 2024.
It is reported that the "new generation" models will have a completely redesigned IT and software architecture, a new generation of high-performance electric drive systems and batteries, and a new sustainable concept throughout the vehicle life cycle, in particular prioritizing the use of reusable materials and advocating a circular economy. The sixth-generation eDrive electric drive system combines performance and cost control with new chemical and battery form factors.
With the rapid expansion of its product lineup, the BMW Group expects that sales of electric models will also grow rapidly: by the end of 2025, the BMW Group plans to deliver a total of 2 million pure electric vehicles.
"By 2030, at least half of all global sales will be pure electric vehicles. We are doing everything possible to achieve this ahead of schedule. By then, the annual sales volume of pure electric vehicles will exceed 1.5 million units. Of course, this also depends on the speed of development of charging infrastructure in different parts of the world, as well as the supply of battery-related raw materials. Chiptzer explained.
According to Chiptzer, in order to ensure the production of existing models, the BMW Group has also made full preparations for the supply of key components. For example, in order to ensure an adequate supply of batteries, the BMW Group has increased the purchase of batteries equipped with the fifth-generation eDrive electric drive system from 12 billion euros to more than 20 billion euros.
According to the plan, by 2030, the BMW Group plans to deliver a total of 10 million pure electric vehicles to customers. At that time, the other three major brands of the BMW Group will also be fully electrified: the Rolls-Royce brand will complete the electrification of all products; the BMW Motorrad urban mobility series will be fully electrified; and the MINI brand will also move towards full electrification from the early 2030s, providing customers with zero-emission driving pleasure.
Chiptzer also revealed that as another focus of new energy technology, BMW Group is steadily promoting the development of hydrogen fuel cell technology, and announced that the electric drive system based on this technology can also be applied to the "new generation" model, becoming another choice for sustainable travel.
"This year, the BMW iX5 Hydrogen fuel cell vehicle will also undergo small-scale mass production. It is expected that from the second half of the 2020s, hydrogen fuel cell technology will be more and more represented in the drive system portfolio. Ziptzer said.
At the moment when the new energy vehicle market is booming, how to anchor a clear transformation route and sound the horn of new energy has become the focus of attention of major automobile companies.
Obviously, the BMW Group has planned a clear route from many areas. "Next, the BMW Group will continue to lead the innovation and development, promote the future of mobility, and firmly accelerate towards the future of electrification." Ziptzer concluded.
The transformation and upgrading of global factories has helped production and marketing to speed up again
Under the background of automobile electrification, high-end new power brands continue to impact the market share of traditional fuel luxury vehicles, and the categories, routes, price areas, and users covered are becoming more and more extensive. Traditional car companies rely on strong financial and technical strength to launch high-end brands.
"In addition, with the increase and growth of new entrants, it will bring a 'catfish effect' to the luxury car market." What can be seen is that a new competitive landscape is being reshaped. Liu Zhichao analyzed.
In response to this trend, the BMW Group is also actively exploring and innovating in the field of manufacturing. At the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Group's earnings report, the BMW Group presented a new standard for the production network – BMW iFACTORY.
"It offers a global solution to transform production networks in the electric age as a way to redefine the future of automotive production." Nordkovoch, Director of Production of the BMW Group, said, "The BMW iFACTORY standard will be applied to all BMW Group plants worldwide, including three vehicle plants and one powertrain plant at the Shenyang production site. ”
The reporter learned that BMW iFACTORY represents BMW's production strategy vision: lean, green and digital.
"Lean– i.e. efficiency, precision and a high degree of flexibility, as well as the ability to integrate different drive technologies and vehicle architectures into production, have become key factors in achieving a successful transformation." Nordkovoch explains, "Green means production through state-of-the-art technology, minimal resource consumption, and a circular economy model. The BMW Group aims to reduce the carbon footprint of bicycles by 80% in production by 2030 compared to 2019. ”
Nordkovoć highlights the importance of digitalization. In his view, digitalization represents the use of data science and artificial intelligence in production, and the integration of the real and virtual worlds in planning and development. Through this digital approach, the BMW Group enables virtualized connectivity for employees around the world, who can develop and plan in real time on the same platform.
"This is a real change and a response of the BMW Group to the 'metacosm'. All BMW Group plants worldwide will follow iFACTORY standards, whether it is the upcoming construction of the debrecen plant in Hungary or the century-old Munich plant in Germany. Lean, green and digital, this is our master plan for the future of production. Nordkovoch concluded.
It is reported that the plant in Debrecen, Hungary, plans to break ground in June this year, and in 26 months, the prototype of the "new generation" model (NEUE KLASSE) will roll off the production line here. In 2025, the "New Generation" model will be officially put into production at the plant.
In the future, focusing on "lean, green and digital", the BMW Group will systematically develop its global production network to welcome the arrival of the "new generation" model.
"With the official production of the 'new generation' model in 2025, the BMW Group's production network has also entered a whole new dimension, which we call BMW iFACTORY, and every BMW Group plant is preparing for this," Says Chiptzer. ”
Some industry insiders pointed out that for the future transformation route, BMW Group has made sufficient preparations and clear planning for each key link such as product quality control, product lineup and product strategic positioning.
It is based on this confidence that although the chip supply shortage is expected to ease in the second half of 2022, and uncertainties such as the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the situation in Ukraine, and the rise in raw material prices also exist, the BMW Group believes that the risk situation is still good and is ready to meet the challenges of the future.
More importantly, in the BMW Group's 2022 and longer-term development plan, the Chinese market and Chinese power will play a more important and critical role.
China Youth Daily, China Youth Network reporter Zhang Zhenqi Source: China Youth Daily
Source: China Youth Daily Travel Weekly