Munich. The BMW Group continues to drive the
expansion of electro-mobility as part of its Strategy NUMBER ONE
NEXT. To achieve this, the company is adapting its production
structures to growing demand for fully and partially electrified
vehicles. Just seven months after opening its battery factory in
China, the BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA) joint venture today laid
the foundation for a comprehensive expansion of the plant. At the
“High-Voltage Battery Centre Phase II”, BBA will produce the new, more
powerful batteries of the fifth-generation BMW eDrive technology for
the fully-electric BMW iX3. Starting in 2020, the BMW iX3 will be
built at the neighbouring BBA plant Dadong.
Oliver Zipse, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG,
responsible for Production: “Today, we break ground for the next stage
of our electric model offensive. In this regard, we further increase
the capacity of our local battery production. This enables us to
follow the increasing demand for electro mobility in China.”
China is the BMW Group’s largest single market and the pacesetter for
e-mobility worldwide. With six electrified models currently available,
the BMW Group offers Chinese customers the widest range of options in
the premium segment. In 2017, the BMW Group more than doubled its
sales of electrified vehicles in China from the previous year and
expects this growth to continue in 2018. Earlier this year, production
of the new BMW 5 Series Plug-in Hybrid got underway at the BBA plant
Dadong. Expansion of the battery factory underlines the BMW Group’s
commitment to China.
Production of fully-electric cars to be integrated into
existing structures
The BMW Group is the pioneer in electromobility. The company’s
Leipzig plant began building the fully-electric BMW i3 in 2013. Today,
the BMW Group produces cars with combustion engines on the same lines
as plug-in hybrids at ten locations worldwide. Three battery plants in
Germany, the US and China supply local production of electrified
vehicles with batteries. In the future, production of fully-electric
vehicles will also be integrated into existing manufacturing structures.
Oliver Zipse: “Maximum utilisation of plant capacity is a priority
for us. That is why we are designing our production system so that we
can build models with a fully or partially electric drive train or
combustion engine on the same assembly line.”
In addition, two enhanced flexible vehicle architectures will be
suitable for all drive forms, thereby reducing complexity in
production. This gives the BMW Group maximum production flexibility
and enables it to respond quickly to market and customer demands
worldwide. It also ensures optimal utilisation of production capacity,
avoids high investments and creates job security.
The BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA) joint venture
The BBA Brilliance Automotive joint venture was founded in 2003. Over
the past 15 years, it has become one of the most successful premium
automobile manufacturers in China, encompassing production and sales
of BMW automobiles in China, as well as local development tasks. In
2017, the BBA automotive plants in Tiexi and Dadong produced almost
400,000 vehicles for the Chinese market – an increase of around 30%
year-on-year. The maximum capacity of the two plants will reach
520,000 units per year from 2019.
Since 2009, the joint venture has invested more than 52 billion RMB
(approx. 6.7 billion euros) in the BBA plants, and employs more than
16,000 people.
In 2014, the BMW Group and Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd.
extended their joint venture contract early and laid the foundation
for deepening the successful cooperation. The extended contract is
valid for ten years (from 2018 to 2028).