Reporter of the Economic Business: Dong Tianyi Editor of the Economic Business Business: Sun Lei
China is upward, the world is eastward, and the pattern of the global automobile industry is being reshaped.
According to Global Times and the British " Times " report on October 15, BMW Group intends to stop producing MINI electric models at its Oxford factory in the UK and transfer the production line to China. The report mentioned that the decision to transfer the electric vehicle production line by BMW is a "major blow" to the ambitions of the UK's green energy vehicle industry.
Public information shows that the Mini brand was born in 1959 and was launched by the British Automobile Company (BMC), and was later acquired by the BMW Group in 1994 and subsequently renamed MINI. The Oxford factory in the UK mentioned in the report has a history of producing MINI models for more than 60 years.
reported that BMW Group's factory in Oxford, UK can produce 40,000 new pure electric MINI cars every year. In addition to preparing to transfer the MINI electric vehicles currently produced in the Oxford factory to China for production, the company's next generation pure electric vehicle model, MINI Aceman, will also be handed over to a joint venture between BMW and Great Wall Motors .
At present, the above news has received a response from BMW. According to the first financial report, BMW China told reporters on October 16 that the Oxford factory will suspend electric vehicle production, but will not stop producing MINI models, and it is clear that the beam cars that cooperate with Great Wall Motors will produce pure electric MINI. However, no response was received as of press time as of whether MINI electric vehicles will be produced only in China.
Image source: Image provided by the company
Public information shows that in November 2019, the beam automobile project jointly established by BMW Group and Great Wall Motors was officially launched in Zhangjiagang City, Jiangsu Province. The total investment of the project is 5.1 billion yuan, with an annual standard production capacity of 160,000 vehicles, with about 3,000 employees, and is expected to start production of MINI pure electric vehicles from 2023.
British car magazine Car Dealer quoted the British Times as saying that Stefanie Wurst, the new head of the BMW MINI brand, said that since the Oxford factory must produce tram and oil vehicles at the same time on the same production line, its operating efficiency is not high, so the company decided that the factory will focus on making gasoline-powered MINI models for domestic and international markets from next year. In addition, the pure electric version of MINI Countryman will be produced at the Leipzig factory in Germany.
The latest data released by BMW Group shows that in the first nine months of this year, BMW Group delivered about 592,900 BMW and MINI cars to Chinese customers. Among them, the sales volume of pure electric models under BMW Group increased by 65% year-on-year. In the global market, BMW Group delivered approximately 1.7479 million BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brand cars in the first three quarters of this year. Among them, the sales of pure electric models of BMW and MINI brands increased by 114.8% year-on-year to about 128,200 vehicles.
According to the previously released strategic plan by BMW Group, BMW MINI's last fuel vehicle will be launched in 2025. By 2027, the global ratio of MINI pure electric vehicles will reach 50%, and the Chinese market will be higher. By the early 2030s, MINI will become the first brand under the BMW Group to achieve pure electrification.
In fact, behind BMW's decision to transfer the MINI electric model production line to China is a microcosm of the increasingly close connection between German automakers and the Chinese market. According to data released by the German Federal Statistics Office, as of the end of 2021, China has been Germany's largest trading partner for six consecutive years. In 2021, the bilateral trade volume was US$235.12 billion, an increase of 22.5% year-on-year. According to data from the German Institute of Economics, in the first half of 2022, Germany's investment in China was about 10 billion euros (approximately RMB 69.95 billion), setting a record high. Among them, the automotive field is still the main area of Germany's investment in China.
On October 13, CARIAD, a software company under Volkswagen Group , joined hands with Horizon to establish a joint venture. It is reported that Volkswagen Group plans to invest approximately 2.4 billion euros (about 16.8 billion yuan) in this cooperation. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2023, and Volkswagen Group holds a 60% stake in this joint venture.
In addition to establishing a joint venture, in April this year, Volkswagen Group also established a CARIAD software subsidiary in China to promote the group and its major brands to realize the digital transformation of in in China. According to CARIAD China, its Chinese team will promote the development of software products for Chinese consumers, including advanced driving assistance system and autonomous driving, next-generation intelligent interconnection functions, smart cockpit and body design, big data and software operating systems and other fields.
Image source: Enterprise image provided by
Volkswagen Group (China) Chairman and CEO Berred said: "The cooperation with Horizon is the core cornerstone of the group's strategic transformation in China and strengthening its business in China. Local R&D will give us more autonomy and further consolidate our leading position in the Chinese automobile market. The joint ventures formed in the future will develop cutting-edge technologies including complete software and hardware stack technologies, allowing us to continuously provide customized products and services to Chinese consumers at a faster speed. Through cooperation with Horizon, we will accelerate the development in the field of autonomous driving, promote the NEW AUTO strategy, and further drive the transformation of China's business."
In addition to Volkswagen Group, other leading German companies are also increasing their investment in China. In September this year, a new production base jointly built by Daimler Truck Company and Beijing Foton Motor announced its launch. It is reported that the two parties invested about 500 million euros (about 3.5 billion yuan) in the new factory, covering an area of more than 400,000 square meters; in June this year, the Audi FAW New Energy Vehicle Factory started construction in Changchun, Jilin. This is the first pure electric vehicle production base for Audi in China, with a total investment of 2.6 billion euros and an area of more than 150 hectares; and BMW Group announced in February this year that it would spend about 28 billion yuan to increase its stake in BMW to 75%. In September, BMW Group announced that two domestic battery manufacturers, CATL and YI Lithium Energy , have become their battery cell suppliers in China. Each of them has an annual supply of BMW to 20GWh, and the total demand contract for battery cell production exceeds 10 billion euros...
BMW Group Chairman Zipce previously stated at the 2022 World New Energy Vehicle Conference that looking forward to the future, new energy vehicles will become one of the core elements of cooperation between China and Germany. BMW Group is full of confidence in the long-term development prospects of the Chinese market and will continue to increase investment in China.
"The reason why foreign-invested enterprises firmly believe that investing in China is to invest in the future is that they are optimistic about the strong resilience and development prospects of China's economy, the super-large-scale market in China, and the Chinese production and supply chain network. On the other hand, it is due to our unswervingly promoting high-level opening up, supporting the multilateral trading system, and continuously providing foreign investment with a more market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment." On August 12 this year, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference that no matter how the international situation changes, China's determination to insist on expanding high-level opening up will not change, its determination to share development opportunities with the world will not change, and its determination to promote more open, inclusive, balanced and win-win economic globalization will not change.
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