BMW expands its battery plant in China after just 7 months of its inauguration

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 in Dadong.

Oliver Zipse, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for the production said, “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 electromobility in China.”

China is 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 with one of the widest range of options in the premium segment. According to an official press note from the BMW group, in 2017, its sales of electrified vehicles in China was 200 percent more than its sales 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 in Dadong. Expansion of the battery factory underlines the BMW Group’s commitment to China. 

Integrating electric cars into existing infrastructures

BMW group’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 batteries to the locally produced electrified vehicles in those regions.

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.”

BMW group has claimed that it achieves maximum production flexibility, which enables it to respond to market and customer demands very swiftly.

A JV worth Rs 52,000 crores

The BMW Brilliance Automotive joint venture, founded in 2003, encompasses 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 group claims that the maximum capacity of the two plants will reach 520,000 units per year from 2019.

With an investment of more than 6.7 billion euros (Rs 52,477 crores) since 2009, the BBA plants employ more than 16,000 people.

In 2014, the BMW Group and Brilliance China Automotive Holdings 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).