This year marks the 30th anniversary of the BMW Group’s entry into the Chinese market. At 30 years old, BMW is making great strides towards electric, smart and sustainable luxury while delivering on its promises.
At this year's Beijing Auto Show, the BMW Group debuted with its full lineup of fifteen major car series from its two major brands. Among them, the BMW new generation concept car came to China for the first time, which represents a leap forward in design, technology and concept of BMW; the new pure electric BMW i4 ushered in its world premiere, and its loyalty to pure driving pleasure made it BMW’s best-selling One of the electric vehicles; in addition, there is also the world premiere of the new MINI family, which innovates in heritage and explains BMW's profound understanding of modern luxury for youth.
Due to BMW's strong appeal in China's luxury car market, BMW is committed to meeting the diverse needs of customers. From entry-level compacts to large luxury cars, BMW's booth lineup covers almost all luxury market segments, and includes various driving modes such as fuel, pure electric, plug-in hybrid, and hydrogen energy.
Over the past thirty years, BMW has provided the Chinese market with increasingly diverse power forms, and localization needs have been continuously met through extended wheelbases and more digital experiences. However, what remains the same is that it is always a BMW. BMW Group Chairman Zipse promised the market that the new generation of BMW will only be "more BMW than ever before."
The new BMW 5 Series, the latest proof of BMW’s future mobility vision
BMW, which is "at home in China", is fully promoting its product offensive in almost all core market segments in China, and is committed to creating benchmark products for consumers in each core market segment. The BMW 4 Series family firmly ranks as the sales champion in the luxury mid-size coupe segment in 2023. The BMW large and medium-sized luxury car market represented by the BMW 7 Series, the new BMW 5 Series and the BMW 3 Series is one of the core markets that BMW attaches most importance to. One that must be mentioned is the new BMW 5 Series.
Compared with the youthful personality of the BMW 4 Series, breaking through tradition has always been the hallmark of the BMW 5 Series. For example, the fourth-generation 5 Series is the world's first mass-produced car with a suspension made entirely of aluminum alloy light metal; the fifth-generation 5 Series is BMW's first model equipped with a head-up display system. After continuous evolution and iteration of design and technology, the BMW 5 Series has reached its eighth generation. The all-new BMW 5 Series has a pure electric version for the first time, the innovative pure electric BMW i5.
Although the new BMW 5 Series is not a new face at this Beijing Auto Show, the BMW 5 Series family led by the innovative pure electric BMW i5 and the new BMW 5 Series long wheelbase version has been launched at the beginning of this year, but the BMW 5 Series is owned by BMW Among the models, it is the series that is most closely integrated with China’s local needs.
The Chinese market is already the world's largest new energy market, and it is also at the forefront of the world in the field of digitalization. To this end, while accelerating electrification, the new BMW 5 Series also continues to make breakthroughs and innovations in the field of digital intelligence. As a representative of BMW's luxury intelligent connected cars, the driving pleasure of the new BMW 5 Series has also been continuously upgraded under BMW's dual concepts of "human-machine co-driving" and "driving in the environment".
The new BMW 5 Series applies the L2+ level intelligent driving assistance system, bringing BMW's world's first automatic lane change function with line of sight confirmation. It tracks the driver's eyes and head movements to determine the conditions for lane change. Based on this, the driver only needs to glance at the rearview mirror as usual to change lanes. At the same time, BMW emphasizes that users are always involved in driving when using BMW's intelligent driving assistance systems, rather than completely handing over the initiative to the car. This is also the principle that BMW follows when building intelligent driving assistance systems.
As the BMW Group's most successful model in China, the BMW 5 Series has won the favor of more than 2 million Chinese customers. In 2003, the BMW 5 Series began production in China from its fifth generation and has continued to lead the development of the luxury car market for 20 years. The debut of the new BMW 5 Series is undoubtedly one of the latest proofs of BMW's future mobility vision.
Increase investment in China and move firmly towards the smart electric era
As a company with a history of a hundred years, the BMW Group continues to innovate and proactively seek change. BMW's new-generation concept car, which comes to China for the first time, represents BMW's determination to reshape luxury travel in the future. Zipzer said, "The new generation concept car has comprehensively revolutionized BMW's product lineup and R&D, production and marketing models. This means more pure driving pleasure, more digital experiences and more sustainable applications."
The BMW Group refers to a series of new models that will be put into production globally in 2025 as the "New Generation", which represents the beginning of the next generation of BMW's new product series. It is reported that the first mass-produced BMW new-generation model will be launched in 2025. Within 24 months after the first model is put into production, at least six new-generation models will be launched on the market. The new generation model will use BMW eDrive electric drive technology and cylindrical batteries for the first time; it will also be equipped with the first BMW panoramic view bridge, which represents a quantum leap in head-up display technology. In addition, the new generation models will also adopt a new electronic and electrical architecture and advanced "domain control" design to elevate the intelligent driving experience and pure driving fun to a higher dimension. These innovations will also be gradually applied to all future BMW models.
This will lay a solid foundation for the launch of localized production of BMW's "new generation" models in 2026. BMW is deepening its presence in China and announced an additional investment of 20 billion yuan in its Shenyang production base. BMW, which calls China its home, has not only established the world's largest production system here, but also established the largest R&D system outside Germany, and has developed an all-round smart electric vehicle supply chain.
As the BMW Group's largest single market in the world, the performance of the Chinese market is crucial to BMW's global leadership. In 2023, the BMW Group will deliver more than 375,000 pure electric vehicles to customers around the world, achieving the goal of pure electric vehicle sales accounting for approximately 15% of the group's total sales as planned. Among them, more than 820,000 BMW and MINI brand cars were delivered to the Chinese market, including nearly 100,000 BMW pure electric vehicles, becoming an important pillar of BMW's overall sales growth.
In order to keep up with the market pace, BMW's brands are firmly moving into the smart electric era in accordance with established plans. Up to now, the BMW brand has provided a total of 8 pure electric models in the Chinese market, and its pure electric products cover almost all major market segments. Within this year, BMW plans to launch more than 20 new models of the BMW and MINI brands in China. Among them, there will be 11 pure electric models. At the same time, BMW will also provide two electric motorcycles to fully meet the diversified and personalized needs of Chinese customers.
at last
After a century of ups and downs, BMW has never stopped innovating. While constantly optimizing various drive technologies, it also continues to promote innovation in various fields and strengthen the sports and luxury labels of the BMW brand. From the digital upgrade of the new BMW 5 Series to the leaps in various dimensions of the new generation concept car, every advancement tells BMW's rethinking of future personal travel: it is still luxurious and full of driving pleasure.
