PressClub Africa, DOM, East Europe · Article.
BMW Group announces next step in electrification strategy
Tue Jul 25 14:30:00 CEST 2017 Press Release
Flexible vehicle architecture to enable electrification of every model series +++ Fully electric MINI confirmed as MINI 3 door variant +++ Electric drivetrain Made in Germany, integrated into car in Oxford +++
Press Contact.
Irmgard Arsenschek
BMW Group
Tel: +49-89-382-26682
send an e-mail
Author.
Irmgard Arsenschek
BMW Group
Flexible vehicle architecture to enable electrification of every model series
Fully electric MINI confirmed as MINI 3 door variant
Electric drivetrain Made in Germany, integrated into car in Oxford
Munich. Electrification is one of the central pillars of the BMW Group’s corporate strategy NUMBER ONE > NEXT and the company has announced that all brands and model series can be electrified, with a full-electric or plug-in hybrid drivetrain being offered in addition to the combustion engine option. Additional electrified models will be brought to market in the coming years and beyond 2020, the company’s next generation vehicle architecture will enable further fully-electric vehicles.
Today, the BMW Group announced that the new battery-electric MINI will be a variant of the brand's core 3 door model. This fully electric car will go into production in 2019, increasing the choice of MINI powertrains to include petrol and diesel internal combustion engines, a plug-in hybrid and a battery electric vehicle. The electric MINI’s electric drivetrain will be built at the BMW Group’s e-mobility centre at Plants Dingolfing and Landshut in Bavaria before being integrated into the car at Plant Oxford, which is the main production location for the MINI 3 door model.
Oliver Zipse, BMW AG Management Board member for Production said, “BMW Group Plants Dingolfing and Landshut play a leading role within our global production network as the company’s global competence centre for electric mobility. Our adaptable production system is innovative and able to react rapidly to changing customer demand. If required, we can increase production of electric drivetrain motor components quickly and efficiently, in line with market developments.”
By 2025, the BMW Group expects electrified vehicles to account for between 15-25% of sales. However, factors such as regulation, incentives and charging infrastructure will play a major role in determining the scale of electrification from market to market. In order to react quickly and appropriately to customer demand, the BMW Group has developed a uniquely flexible system across its global production network. In the future, the BMW Group production system will create structures that enable our production facilities to build models with a combustion engine, plug-in hybrid or fully electric drive train at the same time.
The BMW Group currently produces electrified models at ten plants worldwide; since 2013, all the significant elements of the electric drivetrain for these vehicles come from the company’s plants in Dingolfing and Landshut. Dingolfing additionally builds the plug-in hybrid versions of the BMW 5 Series and the BMW 7 Series and from 2021, it will build the BMW i NEXT. The BMW Group has invested a total of more than 100 million euros in electro-mobility at the Dingolfing site to date, with investment continuing as the BMW Group’s range of electrified vehicles further expands.
Electrification of all brands and model series continues
The new, fully-electric MINI is one of a series of electrified models to be launched by the BMW and MINI brands in the coming years. In 2018, the BMW i8 Roadster will become the newest member of the BMW i family. The all-electric BMW X3 has been announced for 2020, and the BMW iNEXT is due in 2021.
Today, the BMW Group offers the widest range of electrified vehicles of any car manufacturer in the world, with nine models already on the market. These range from the full-electric BMW i3 to the company’s newest electrified model, the MINI Cooper S E Countryman ALL4*, a plug-in hybrid version of the MINI Countryman, which is produced by VDL Nedcar in the Netherlands. The company has committed to selling 100,000 electrified vehicles in 2017 and will have a total of 200,000 electrified vehicles on the roads by the end of the year.
The BMW Group has benefited from its early start on the road to electrification. Indeed, the company’s pioneering, large scale electric vehicle trial began world-wide in 2008 with the MINI E. Learnings from this project played a crucial role in the subsequent development of the BMW i3 and BMW i8, technology pioneers which themselves informed the company’s current range of plug-in hybrid vehicles.
*: Fuel consumption in the EU test cycle: 2.3 - 2.1 litres/100 km, CO2 emissions: 52 - 49 g/km
If you have any queries, please contact:
Corporate Communications
Frank Wienstroth, Head of Production Network Communications, frank.wienstroth@bmwgroup.com
Telephone: +49 89 382 54459
Sandra Schillmöller, Production Network Communications, sandra.schillmoeller@bmwgroup.com
Telephone: +49 89 382 12225
Glenn Schmidt, Head of Business and Finance Communications, glenn.schmidt@bmwgroup.com
Telephone: +49 89 382-24544
Emma Begley, Business and Finance Communications, emma.begley@bmwgroup.com
Telephone: +49 89 382 72200
Media website: www.press.bmwgroup.com
Email: presse@bmw.de
The BMW Group production network
Strong customer demand and the launch of new models resulted in very high capacity utilisation for the BMW Group’s production network in 2016. With 2,359,756 vehicles produced for the BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands, production volumes reached a new all-time high. This figure included 2,002,997 BMW, 352,580 MINI and 4,179 Rolls-Royce units. The company’s German plants, which produced more than one million vehicles, are responsible for roughly half of production volumes.
With its unparalleled flexibility, the leading-edge production system is in excellent shape for the future. Based on Strategy NUMBER ONE > NEXT, it is characterised by a high level of efficiency and robust processes. The BMW Group’s production expertise represents a decisive competitive advantage and contributes to the profitability of the company and its sustainable success.
Quality and speed of reaction are key factors in the BMW production system, as well as flexibility. Digitalisation, standardised modular concepts and intelligent composite construction testify to the high level of expertise within the production network. At the same time, the production system offers a very high level of customisation and allows customer specifications to be modified up until six days before delivery.
The BMW Group
With its four brands BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, the BMW Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also provides premium financial and mobility services. As a global company, the BMW Group operates 31 production and assembly facilities in 14 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.
In 2016, the BMW Group sold approximately 2.367 million cars and 145,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax was approximately € 9.67 billion on revenues amounting to € 94.16 billion. As of 31 December 2016, the BMW Group had a workforce of 124,729 employees.
The success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain, comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BMWGroup
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BMWGroup
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/BMWGroupview
Google+: http://googleplus.bmwgroup.com