What is your deepest impression of luxury brands?
Walking out of the door of the Beijing Auto Show, my fellow media friends threw this topic to me. After attending the "BMW Night" on the eve of the auto show and the BMW booth press conference on the media day of the auto show, what I felt the most was that ABB is accelerating the strategic concept of "home in China".
Whether it is BMW Night or media conference, BMW executives are working hard to use Chinese to introduce the latest technology and product planning of BMW and MINI.
A week ago, a joint venture luxury brand also opened its latest R&D building in Shanghai, and at the launch ceremony, German executives who spoke also spoke in Chinese and engaged in dialogue with Chinese media.
On April 26, the day after the press day, BMW announced that it would deepen its presence in China and plan to invest an additional 20 billion yuan in its Shenyang production base.
The investment will focus on large-scale upgrades and technological innovations at the Dadong Plant, the birthplace of BMW's production in China, laying a solid foundation for the launch of local production of BMW's "Next Generation" models in 2026.
All of this is sending a signal:
BMW's "At Home in China" strategy has reached a new phase of 2.0, with the group not only keeping a close eye on the Chinese market, but also responding to product needs faster than any other market in the world, and the local Chinese team has been able to play an important role in the design of the new generation of domestic models.
Connecting the previous and the next, it is reborn
On the eve of the Beijing Auto Show and the Shanghai Auto Show, the BMW Group organizes a grand brand night to strengthen the publicity of its brands on the one hand, and on the other hand, to closely echo the new car launches at the auto show and warm up for the blockbuster models in advance.
However, this year's BMW Night has been given a unique meaning by the group. It not only reinforces the vision of electrification and intelligence conveyed by the "BMW Night" in the past few years, but also releases an important message to the outside world: the strategic deployment in these plans has become a reality in practice, and has been verified at the technical and product level in the process of landing production vehicles.
The auto show booth once again released this signal:
BMW's next-generation concept car, which is coming to China for the first time, gives Chinese customers a glimpse of BMW's new definition of personal luxury mobility in the future. The newly released all-electric BMW i4 and the all-new BMW M4 attracted many young consumers to stop and visit with their innovative design and distinctive personality.
In addition, represented by the new BMW X5, the BMW X family showcased the "richest" luxury lineup of SAV sports multi-segment pioneers. BMW's 7 Series, 5 Series, and 3 Series are all arrays of large and medium-sized luxury products, underscoring BMW's continued leading product strength in key core markets.
One of the highlights:
From entry-level compact to large luxury cars, BMW's booth lineup covers almost all luxury segments, including gasoline, pure electric, plug-in hybrid, and hydrogen powertrains, reflecting the BMW Group's strong innovation leadership and consumer appeal in China's luxury car market.
Highlight 2:
BMW's vision is clear, and it continues to innovate and optimize its drive technologies.
Chairman Zipzer also said at the press conference that with the new generation of models, BMW expects to demonstrate the system implementation of the three core areas of the automotive industry in the future – electrification, a clear focus on sustainability and full digitalization. This also means that BMW will fully enter the future in three dimensions: design, technology and concept.
In other words, BMW took the Beijing Auto Show as an inflection point and made forward-looking plans in three dimensions: design, technology and concept.
Looking ahead, the upcoming "new generation" represents BMW's rethinking of personal mobility and continuous progress in the field of technology.
In terms of electric drive technology, the new-generation model will be equipped with the sixth-generation BMW eDrive electric drive technology and cylindrical battery cells for the first time, achieving significant improvements in energy density, cruising range and charging speed.
In terms of human-machine interaction, the new-generation model will be equipped with the first-of-its-kind BMW panoramic vision bridge, which represents a quantum leap forward in head-up display technology.
In addition, the new generation of the model will adopt a new electronic and electrical architecture, advanced "domain control" design, and an intelligent center composed of four "super brains" to enhance the intelligent driving experience and pure driving pleasure to a higher dimension.
"Home in China" for 30 years
BMW's localization process is gradually driven by the changes in the Chinese market and the positive feedback of the Chinese market to the global market. In the past, BMW has always emphasized "in China for China", but now it has been renovated to "Home in China", and it can be seen from the changes at the strategic level that BMW has great hopes for the Chinese market.
The luxury car company is not satisfied with building China into the world's largest single market, they also hope to establish a presence here and empower the next generation of models and the global market through technology and product development.
It is worth mentioning that the BMW Group's China strategy is closely related to its transformation and leapfrogging. 2024 marks the 30th anniversary of the BMW Group's entry into the Chinese market.
It is true that the current BMW Group has not only established the world's largest production system in China and the largest R&D system outside Germany, but also developed an all-round intelligent electric vehicle supply chain. In the future, BMW will explore more multi-dimensional cooperation models, and is committed to creating a win-win situation with Chinese partners and jointly opening a new era.
At the Beijing Motor Show, BMW's new-generation concept car made its debut in China, and the all-electric BMW i4 also made its world debut.
Since its launch in 2021, the BMW i4 has set a precedent in its class for pure electric vehicles with its coupe DNA. As an important member of the BMW 4 Series family, the all-electric BMW i4 will exceed 80,000 units worldwide in 2023, becoming the BMW Group's best-selling BEV model in the world, helping the BMW Group deliver more than one million BEVs worldwide.
In addition, the BMW Group delivered more than 375,000 BEVs to customers worldwide in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 74.2%. In the Chinese market, which is a bellwether for electrification, the BMW Group will deliver about 100,000 BMW BEVs in 2023, becoming an important pillar of BMW's overall sales growth.
Up to now, the BMW brand has offered a total of eight BEV models in the Chinese market, covering almost all major market segments. By the end of the year, the BMW Group will have 11 all-electric models, as well as two electric motorcycles.
In the face of the new investment in the Shenyang base, Zipzer also introduced the intelligent manufacturing of the base, which is the cornerstone of the group's confidence in the "new generation" to be put into production in China.
30 years ago, BMW's Beijing representative office was set up on the banks of the Liangma River. Today, BMW is showcasing its vision for the future of mobility with a number of innovative products and achievements, promoting the development of China's automotive culture and continuing to contribute to the high-quality development of China's automotive industry.
Starting this year, the BMW Group will show a new look of "rebirth" in China. From product research and development, new energy technology routes to intelligent manufacturing, we will see a new and more open BMW, and the commitment of "Home in China" will also become the best footnote to "Influence the world from China".