Zhangjiagang/Munich. The BMW Group and Great Wall
Motor are driving e‑mobility forward by building a joint plant in
China, where the BMW Group will produce future fully-electric models
of its MINI brand. High-level representatives of the local Chinese
government, Great Wall Motor and the BMW Group today announced the
launch of the new joint venture, Spotlight Automotive Limited. The
plant will have a standard capacity of up to 160,000 vehicles per
year, which will require around 3,000 employees after the ramp-up
phase. Both partners will together invest around 650 million Euro
(more than five billion CNY). The construction phase is planned for
2020 to 2022.
The event took place in the city of Zhangjiagang in China’s Jiangsu
Province, the location of the new automotive plant. Today’s official
inauguration marks the next milestone in the relationship between
Great Wall Motor and the BMW Group. In summer 2018, the 50:50 joint
venture agreement was signed in Berlin in the presence of Chinese
Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
As well as production, the innovative joint venture model also
includes joint development of battery-electric vehicles in the world’s
largest market for electromobility. The joint venture envisages
production of future electric MINI vehicles, as well as several models
and brands for Great Wall Motor. Following the launch of the brand-new
first-generation fully-electric MINI*, which will be built at Oxford
and come to market in the first quarter of 2020, this is another
important step towards the MINI brand’s electrified future. MINI Plant
Oxford, which recently built the 10 millionth car since the brand’s
launch in 1959, will remain the heart and home of MINI manufacturing,
while the Spotlight Automotive joint venture will provide additional
capacity and flexibility.
Klaus Fröhlich, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG,
responsible for Development, said at the official ceremony to mark the
inauguration of Spotlight Automotive: “Today we are taking the next
step in our collaboration: With the BMW Group as a pioneer in the
field of electromobility and Great Wall as a major player and expert
in industrialisation in the Chinese market, we are joining forces for
development and production of the future electric MINI and new Great
Wall models.”
During the press conference following the ceremony, Dr. Nicolas
Peter, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for
Finance, stressed the strategic importance of the cooperation with the
Chinese partner: “This German-Chinese relationship underscores
our commitment to China and the future of premium compact electrified
vehicles. This joint venture will enable us to produce a larger number
of MINI-brand-fully electric vehicles at attractive conditions for the
world market. This is also an important strategic step for the MINI
brand. The joint venture with Great Wall underlines the enormous
importance of the Chinese market for us.”
Zhangjiagang was chosen as the location of the Spotlight plant
because of its solid supplier network, skilled workforce and good
infrastructure. Jiangsu is also one of the leading provinces for
finance, education and technology.
The BMW Group is firmly committed to continuing its successful
cooperation with established sales structures and channels in China.
The joint venture will not be creating an additional sales
organisation in China for future electric vehicles. Every joint
venture partner will use their own sales channel for their specific brands.
In recent years, BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA) has become a
cornerstone of the BMW Group’s success in its largest market. The BMW
Group’s expansion strategy with the new joint venture could therefore
accelerate development of the MINI brand significantly.
BMW Group is a pioneer in electric mobility
As a pioneer in e-mobility, the BMW Group is already a leading
supplier of electrified vehicles. By the end of 2021, the company aims
to have more than one million fully-electric vehicles and plug-in
hybrids on the roads worldwide.
At that point, the BMW Group will offer five fully-electric
production vehicles. Alongside the BMW i3, which saw demand increase
by approximately 20% so far this year, production of the
fully-electric MINI* will also begin at the Oxford plant (UK) this
month. Over 78,000 customers have so far expressed a keen interest in
the MINI ELECTRIC*. In 2020, production of the fully-electric BMW iX3
will begin at the Shenyang plant (China), followed in 2021 by the
BMW iNEXT, which will be built at the Dingolfing plant (Germany). The
BMW i4 is also due to go into series production at the Munich plant in
2021. By 2023, the company will already offer 25 electrified models –
more than half of which will be fully electric. Flexible vehicle
architectures, which allow a model to be driven fully electrically, as
a plug-in hybrid or with a combustion engine, form the basis for this,
as well as a highly flexible production system.
If you have any questions, please contact:
Corporate Communications
Almut Stollberg, Corporate Communications
almut.stollberg@bmw.de, Telephone: +49 -89 -382-96543
Mathias Schmidt, Head of Corporate and Culture Communications
mathias.m.schmidt@bmwgroup.com, Telephone: +49 89 382-24544
Media website: www.press.bmwgroup.com
Email: presse@bmwgroup.com
The BMW Group
With its four brands BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, the BMW
Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and
motorcycles and also provides premium financial and mobility services.
The BMW Group production network comprises 31 production and assembly
facilities in 15 countries; the company has a global sales network in
more than 140 countries.
In 2018, the BMW Group sold over 2,490,000 passenger vehicles and
more than 165,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax in the
financial year 2018 was € 9.815 billion on revenues amounting to
€ 97.480 billion. As of 31 December 2018, the BMW Group had a
workforce of 134,682 employees.
The success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term
thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established
ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain,
comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to
conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy.
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