The Success of BMW Brilliance Is the Cornerstone of the Development of BMW Brand in China

On October 11, BMW Brilliance celebrated its 15th anniversary in Shenyang and announced two major decisions - the shareholders of both sides will extend the contract term of the joint venture to 2040, and BMW Brilliance will invest 3 billion euros to start comprehensive plant expansion and new plant construction.

"BMW group actually made a very clear principled decision 25 years ago: production follows the market. Where the market is, we have to set up factories and produce there. This is the fundamental reason why we set up a joint venture brilliance BMW factory in Shenyang 15 years ago." said Dr. Peter, director in charge of Finance and China market of BMW Group.

The success of BMW Brilliance is the cornerstone of the development of BMW brand in China

Since the establishment of brilliance BMW in 2003, it has been developing with great strides. According to statistics, since 2009, the cumulative investment in BMW Brilliance production base has exceeded 52 billion yuan. In 2010, brilliance BMW Tiexi factory broke ground; In 2012, the world-class Tiexi factory rose to the forefront of the world automobile industry with perfect design and innovative technology.

In 2017, the new Dadong factory was opened. Digital technologies such as big data and "digital twins" were combined with advanced production equipment to become the benchmark for the application of "industry 4.0". In addition to vehicle production, BMW Brilliance also began to manufacture the engine proud of BMW Group in Shenyang in 2012, and built a world leading powertrain plant in January 2016.

In 2017, nearly 600000 BMW Group vehicles were delivered to Chinese customers. In the first eight months of 2018, BMW Group has sold 400013 BMW and mini vehicles in the Chinese market, with a year-on-year increase of 4.2%, while in the off-season August, the sales of 53520 vehicles were up, with a year-on-year increase of 12.9%. Among them, BMW 5 series, BMW 3 series, BMW X1, BMW X5 and other major market segments rose strongly. Two thirds of them are produced by brilliance BMW Tiexi and Dadong factories. Thanks to the reliable local dealer network, BMW Group launched 16 new products in 2018 and will maintain a strong product offensive in the next few years to continue its success in the Chinese market.

It can be said that BMW's achievements in China today are due to its deep cultivation in the Chinese market and keeping up with the needs of Chinese customers. Among them, BMW Brilliance plays an important role.

Similarly, the success of BMW Brilliance is not only the success of the enterprise itself, but also contributed to the local economic development and industrial upgrading. Since 2005, BMW Brilliance has always ranked first among the largest tax paying enterprises in Shenyang. At present, BMW Brilliance has developed more than 350 parts suppliers in China, created 18000 jobs, and promoted Liaoning Province to establish a perfect industrial upstream and downstream supply chain.

Dr. Peter said: "in the past 15 years, we have made our contribution to the revitalization of Northeast China by setting up a production base in Shenyang." such efforts make brilliance BMW not only a participant in China's economic development and an example of the great achievements of reform and opening up, but also a key part of the great plan for the revitalization of Northeast China.

Optimistic about China's future and take root in Shenyang

At the 15th anniversary celebration, the big gift package brought by both shareholders, in addition to the extension of the cooperation period, included an additional investment of 3 billion euros to start the comprehensive plant expansion and new plant construction. In the future, the production capacity of Tiexi plant will double, and Dadong plant will also carry out technical upgrading, reconstruction and expansion. It is expected that the annual production capacity of the joint venture will gradually increase to 650000 vehicles in the early 2020's. In response, Dr. Peter said: "looking to the future, we are full of confidence in China's development and believe in its great potential. Today, we pave the way for a more brilliant future.".

BMW group not only regards China as the world's largest sales market, but also a strategic market that plays an important role in the company's transformation to future travel. Mr. Gao Le, President and CEO of Greater China of BMW Group, pointed out: "China's leading position in the transformation of digitization and electrification is becoming more and more prominent. Therefore, we have established a strong local R & D network and cooperated with China's leading high-tech enterprises. We are fully prepared to layout all key innovation fields of aces (i.e. automation, interconnection, electrification and service), and actively shape our future business. "

The layout of aces is also a key step in BMW's implementation of the "2 4 strategy" in China. In this strategy, "2" refers to BMW Group's in-depth development of the two core brands BMW and mini business together with local joint ventures in China, and "4" refers to promoting the implementation of "a.c.e.s" ("automation, interconnection, electrification and service") in China and feeding the world.

As the top priority in the development of the global automobile market, BMW places its hopes on China, the best cradle of the world's automobile new energy industry, for the present and future of new energy vehicles.

The pure electric vehicle BMW ix3 will be put into production in Shenyang and sold worldwide in 2020 - Shenyang will be the only production base of this model. At the same time, Shenyang will also become one of the global bases for the development and production of new energy vehicles of BMW Group.

The new Tiexi plant, the engine plant that has been put into operation and the power battery center cooperate with each other. The flexible and efficient production system will realize the common line production of pure electric models, plug-in hybrid models and fuel models, and can produce new energy models according to the market demand.

At the same time, the partnership between BMW and battery manufacturer Ningde times is also deepening and expanding (Ningde will build a factory in Germany, and BMW Group will become its first customer) , BMW is also the first luxury brand to establish a power battery center, and has started the second phase of construction. BMW Group will also cooperate with Great Wall group to promote the production and business development of mini electric vehicles in China.

From today on, BMW's success in China has turned into a memorable history. When the time pointer has begun the next round of rotation, it has taken brave steps for BMW in China and around the world to move towards a more successful future.