On April 25, 2024, the Beijing Auto Show kicked off, and BMW's new-generation concept car made its debut in China. According to the plan, the new generation of BMW models will officially start production in the second half of 2025 and production in China in 2026. In 2023, the BMW Group will open a new R&D center in Shanghai and a new Designworks studio in Shanghai, and with the continuous expansion and upgrading of BMW's R&D facilities in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang and Nanjing, the BMW Group has established the largest and most complete R&D system in China outside of its headquarters in Germany. At present, more than 3,000 experts in various fields of BMW China's R&D team are actively participating in the development of the new generation of BMW models together with the German team, and the suggestions and opinions of Chinese customers are taken into account in many aspects in the process, so as to fully meet the needs of Chinese users for the future luxury travel experience.
The design of the new generation of BMW models, which will be put into production in China in the future, was developed by the Shanghai design team and the Munich R&D center. In 2023, the BMW Group's new Designworks Shanghai studio will be officially opened. This highly creative and well-rounded design team will make an even greater contribution to the Chinese market, leading the way in the creation of BMW's future models while providing an exceptional luxury experience for Chinese customers.
The new generation of BMW models will be equipped with the BMW Panoramic View Bridge, a quantum leap forward in head-up display technology, as well as a new HMI system with a new central display and a multi-function steering wheel. For Chinese consumers, the key areas of the digital experience of the new generation of models were designed by the Chinese R&D team in collaboration with the Munich team, such as digital functions and services such as BMW's intelligent personal assistant, navigation system, user interface, and in-vehicle ecosystem. As the only Usability Lab outside of Germany, BMW launched a research and development activity for the new iDrive in China, including the panoramic vision bridge, as early as 2020, and has invited more than 900 Chinese users to participate in the research and conducted more than 2,500 hours of in-depth interviews.
BMW's new-generation models bring driving pleasure to a new dimension, with a new intelligent E/E architecture and advanced "domain control" design to create BMW's unique intelligent luxury travel experience. The Chinese R&D team expects to start road testing of the new generation BMW models in China in 2025 and will conduct the tests at the BMW Group's EMC laboratory, which has the largest and most comprehensive test program in the world. In addition, the Chinese R&D team has started local R&D and testing of L2+ and L3 autonomous driving functions for the next-generation models.
At present, the second phase of the expansion project of the Shenyang R&D Center has also been officially opened, strengthening BMW's full-process development and verification capabilities for domestic new energy vehicles. The facility has 19 new laboratories, 90% (17) dedicated to testing new energy vehicles. In order to smoothly realize the localization of the production of the new generation of models at the Shenyang production base, the BMW Group invested 10 billion yuan as early as 2022 to launch the 6th generation power battery project. At present, the main building was fully completed in November last year, and it is planned to complete the installation of equipment within this year, and officially open it in 2026.
BMW has been engaged in local R&D in China for 20 years and currently has more than 3,000 experts in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang and Nanjing, and will expand to 600 developers at BMW ArcherMind Technology Co., Ltd. (BATW) in Nanjing by the end of 2024. The BMW Group has established the largest R&D network outside Germany in China and is well positioned to provide solutions for intelligent connected cars. Adhering to the concept of open innovation and efficient cooperation with Chinese partners, BMW will implement the corporate strategy of "At Home in China" with practical actions. In the future, the BMW China R&D team will continue to accelerate the development and verification of BMW's next-generation models, and go all out to meet the new generation.