ON APRIL 25, AT THE 2024 BEIJING AUTO SHOW, THE NEW ELECTRIC MINI COOPER OF THE MINI BRAND WAS OFFICIALLY RELEASED AND OPENED FOR PRE-SALE, LAUNCHING THREE DIFFERENT MODELS OF "CLASSIC VERSION", "ARTIST" AND "RACER", WITH A PRICE RANGE OF 21-270,000 YUAN. IT IS UNDERSTOOD THAT THE ALL-NEW MINI COOPER IS THE FIRST MASS-PRODUCED CAR UNDER BEAM MOTORS, WHICH IS JOINTLY BUILT BY GREAT WALL MOTORS AND BMW GROUP.
IN TERMS OF POWER, THE NEW CAR WILL BE OFFERED IN TWO POWER LEVELS, WITH THE MINI COOPER E DRIVING MOTOR WITH A MAXIMUM POWER OF 135 KILOWATTS, AND THE MINI COOPER SE, 160 KILOWATTS MATED TO 40.7 KILOWATTS AND 54.2 KILOWATTS OF BATTERY PACKS, AND THE LATTER WITH A CLTC ALL-ELECTRIC RANGE OF 456 KM.
Beam Auto was established as a joint venture between BMW Group and Great Wall Motor in December 2019, with a 50:50 shareholding ratio between the two parties, of which BMW (Netherlands) Holding Company is the actual controller. In 2019, Beam Automobile started the construction of a plant in Zhangjiagang City, Jiangsu Province, with a total investment of 5.1 billion yuan and an annual standard production capacity of 160,000 units. It is worth noting that Beam Automobile adopts a joint venture or non-joint venture method, and product sales are still carried out through the internal channels of the two auto brands.
According to the original plan, Beam Motors is not only responsible for production, but also includes the joint research and development of pure electric vehicles between the two sides in China, and it is expected that the future MINI pure electric vehicles and Great Wall Motor's new products will be put into production here, but the latest news shows that Beam Motors is currently only responsible for the production of MINI's next two electric models, that is, COOPER and ACEMAN, and there is no progress on the new products jointly developed by the two brands.
In September 2023, MINI officially announced its comprehensive electrification strategy, and Beam Motors will become the world's first production and main export base for the next-generation MINI pure electric models. FOLLOWING IN OCTOBER, THE ALL-NEW MINI COOPER ROLLED OFF THE PRODUCTION LINE AT THE BEAM AUTOMOTIVE PLANT, AND THE FIRST SOP MODELS (SMALL SERIES PRODUCTION) WERE ONLY AVAILABLE FOR EXPORT. In December 2023, Beam Motors obtained independent production qualifications.
In recent years, MINI's sales in China have declined, from 34,100 units in 2019 to 28,700 units in 2022, and then to 18,200 units in 2023, far behind the market of traditional fuel luxury brands. Due to the sluggish sales in the Chinese market, the models produced by Beam Automotive may be mainly for overseas markets, or it may become the second largest production base of MINI in the world.