The BMW Group is taking concrete actions to tell the outside world that it attaches great importance to the Chinese market, and that it will complete a responsible transformation and a responsible electrification in China and around the world.
On April 26, the second day of the auto show, Hao Peng, Secretary of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Congress, Li Lecheng, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Governor of the Liaoning Provincial People's Congress, and Zipzer, Chairman of the BMW Group, witnessed the signing of the investment memorandum of understanding. The BMW Group announced that it will increase its investment in its Shenyang production base by CNY 20 billion.
The BMW Group's investment will focus on large-scale upgrades and technological innovations at the Dadong Plant, the birthplace of BMW's production in China, to lay the foundation for the launch of local production of BMW's "Next Generation" models in 2026.
On the day of the signing, Zipzer said: "The cooperation between the BMW Group and Liaoning is a model of mutual benefit and win-win. Liaoning Province and Shenyang City have been providing strong support to the BMW Group's investment and development in Liaoning, for which we are deeply grateful. In Shenyang, BMW is forging the future. Our 'Next Generation' undoubtedly marks the largest investment in the BMW Group's history and heralds a new era of personal and intelligent mobility driven by innovation and technology." ”
At the same time, the BMW Group and BMW Brilliance will take the new investment as an opportunity to leverage the localization of BMW's "Next Generation" models to deepen strategic cooperation with Liaoning Province and Shenyang City in multiple fields such as industrial upgrading, technological innovation, supply chain strengthening, and talent training, so as to promote the high-quality development of new energy and intelligent connected industry clusters in Northeast China, and promote the transformation of the manufacturing industry to a more efficient, smarter and greener direction with new quality productivity.
In China, BMW is committed to building a resilient, high-quality, and sustainable automotive supply chain. In order to accelerate the low-carbon transformation and high-quality development of the supply chain, BMW has established a comprehensive supplier sustainability management system, and works with partners throughout the manufacturing chain to find effective ways to reduce carbon emissions in areas where carbon emissions are concentrated in the supply chain.
In 2026, the production of new-generation BMW models tailored to Chinese consumers will be produced in Shenyang. BMW wants to bring a more enjoyable luxury e-mobility experience to Chinese users. At the same time, the launch of the new generation of models represents BMW's pursuit and persistence in energy conservation, environmental protection and green supply chain.
New technology, new green, new era
In the new generation of models, BMW uses a series of technologies to save energy and reduce emissions, with a view to achieving full-chain emission reduction in the era of electrification and creating a responsible era of electrification.
The BMW Next-Generation Concept Car, which is coming to China for the first time, also gives Chinese customers a glimpse of the new definition of BMW's future personal luxury mobility, which showcases the core characteristics of the future BMW: electrification, digitalization, and circular sustainability, and strengthens the BMW brand's sports and luxury label in an extremely modern and innovative way, defining the future of intelligent luxury personal mobility. On a global level, the first mass-produced BMW next-generation model will be launched in 2025, with at least six next-generation models to be introduced to the market within 24 months of the first model going into production.
BMW's next-generation concept car represents BMW's vision for the next decade of mobility – more humane, smarter and more responsible personal mobility, with three major features: a newly developed E/E architecture with a new user interface and human-machine interaction concept, a newly developed electric drive and battery system with high performance and significant efficiency improvements, and a new level of circular sustainability throughout the product life cycle.
At the BMW Next Generation, people can see many new technologies that are green and environmentally friendly.
For example, in terms of interior design, through the use of digital technology, intelligent and minimalist design is achieved with "technological magic", reducing physical buttons and resource consumption, while strengthening the "people-oriented" driving experience.
For example, the extensive use of low-carbon and renewably recycled materials in the concept car is also a concrete manifestation of BMW's sustainability strategy at the product level, with the interior design of the new generation BMW concept car completely eliminating decorative chrome and leather, which helps to reduce carbon emissions in the production process, and the side skirts and front and rear bezel are also made of recyclable monomaterials for higher recycling rates. For the future, BMW is developing a 100% natural, plant- or mineral-based, petroleum-free interior material that is already used in the lower part of the door panels and the center console of the BMW Next-Generation Concept.
Another example is BMW's pursuit of "efficient power", and the new generation of models has achieved a new breakthrough in vehicle efficiency. The voltage platform for batteries, powertrains, and charging technology will be increased to 800 volts, reducing the charging time of traction batteries by up to 30% from 10-80%, and replenishing 300 kilometers in 10 minutes. At the same time, the sixth-generation BMW eDrive technology will use cylindrical battery cells, which will increase energy density by more than 20%, vehicle efficiency by 25%, and cruising range by 30%. At the same time, the new generation of cells will reduce the carbon footprint of the production process by up to 60% compared to the current production cells.
"With the new generation, we are starting from scratch and rethinking personal mobility. We've made significant improvements in every area of technology, and BMW has made great strides in sustainability. In the coming years, the new generation will be the leader and driver of BMW's new technology application. All of these innovations will not be limited to the new generation of models, but will benefit all future BMWs, regardless of whether they are petrol or electric. BMW Group CEO Zipzer said.
In this car, BMW shows its sense of mission in the era of smart electric vehicles.
Building a sustainable future in China
As a responsible multinational car company, the BMW Group aims to reduce carbon emissions throughout the life cycle of a single vehicle by at least 40% by 2030 compared to 2019, and is committed to achieving climate neutrality across the entire value chain by 2050 at the latest.
In China, it also wants to complete the responsible electrification transition, build a green supply chain, and create a sustainable future. As a leader in the sustainable development of the automotive industry, the BMW Group is committed to promoting low-carbon emission reduction and circular transformation along the entire value chain in China, and working with partners to create green productivity.
The BMW Group's commitment to "Home in China" is not only an empty phrase, but also a commitment to making a continuous contribution to China's economic growth, as well as its deep involvement in technological innovation and socio-cultural development. With "360-degree full-chain carbon reduction" as the basic strategy and circular economy as the priority model, we will work with upstream and downstream partners to jointly promote the green and low-carbon transformation and high-quality development of the entire value chain.
With the new investment of 20 billion yuan, the Shenyang production base will continue to set a new industry benchmark in intelligent manufacturing and green production.
In the field of green production, sustainability and the circular economy are fully integrated into all operational aspects of the production site.
Since 2019, 100% renewable electricity has been used at BMW's Shenyang production base, the "Smart Energy" system has raised production and operation efficiency and green carbon reduction to a new level, the Shenyang production base has also established a complete wastewater treatment system to achieve a closed cycle of water resource management, and the company has taken the lead in the industry to realize the closed-loop recycling of raw materials for domestic electric vehicle power batteries with local partners, effectively reducing 70% of carbon emissions in mineral resource extraction.
In addition to the Shenyang production site, the BMW Group hopes to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction in every link of the entire industrial chain in China.
In 2022, the BMW Group and Zhejiang Huayou Recycling Technology Co., Ltd. reached a cooperation agreement to jointly create an innovative cooperation model in the field of new energy vehicles, aiming to establish a closed-loop recycling and cascade utilization mode of power battery materials, and realize the closed-loop recycling of power battery raw materials for electric vehicles for the first time.
Under this mode, the retired power batteries from BMW are extracted from core raw materials such as nickel, cobalt and lithium in batteries in a high proportion through Huayou Cycle's advanced green metallurgical technology, and all of them are returned to BMW's own battery supply chain system for the production of new power batteries, realizing the closed-loop management of power battery raw materials. This innovation not only gives full play to the residual value of retired power batteries, but also more effectively reduces the carbon emissions from the extraction of battery raw materials by 70%. Today, the BMW Group has achieved a 100% recycling model for retired EV batteries in China.
For retired batteries with high residual capacity, the BMW Group follows the principle of cascade utilization and continues to apply them to energy storage and forklifts. Since 2020, the BMW Group has been working with Huayou Recycling to study the feasibility of reusing power batteries, becoming the first automaker in China to realize the cascade utilization of power batteries in forklifts. In 2022, we deepened our cooperation with Huayou Recycling to further explore and expand the application scenarios of power battery cascade utilization in the production process.
In the future, at the BMW Group's production base in Shenyang, China, the forklifts, pallet trucks and energy storage stations with integrated storage and charging will all use BMW's retired power batteries.
Looking at the world, the original intention of electrification transformation is to achieve energy saving, emission reduction, low-carbon and environmental protection, even in today's slightly impetuous world, the transformation of electrification should not just be a blind run in pursuit of sales. Responsible transformation, that's BMW's thinking.