Statements BMW Group Press Conference Shanghai Auto Show 2019

Jochen Goller

President and CEO of BMW Group Region China

Good morning and welcome!

As you would expect from the BMW Group, you are going to see a real firework of new products. To start with, we have the all-new BMW 3 Series standard wheel-base, celebrating its China premiere today. The 3 Series has a special meaning to us: It embodies pure sportiness. And it was also the first model to be produced in China in 2003. The 3 Series legacy is closely tied to our success in this market.

Today China truly stands for rapid transformation and technological advancement. That’s why our largest R&D footprint outside of Germany, is right here in China. Guided by our new China Strategy, we focus on four aspects of future mobility – autonomous, connected, electrified and services. That enables us to unleash the full potential of this highly dynamic market. 

Our company is in the midst of its strongest product offensive ever, and we can already see the positive impact: BMW Group China achieved a year-on-year growth of 10% in the first Quarter.

Localization is one key driver of this performance.

Very soon, we will start production of the all-new 3 Series in Shenyang, offering both standard and long-wheelbase models. Driven by the launch of new products, our good momentum will continue in the coming months. And now let’s get started. Please welcome Pieter Nota!

Pieter Nota

Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG

Customer, Brands, Sales

Good morning!

Since April, our brands BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce have been united as one division in our company. I am thrilled to lead these three exciting and emotional brands.

We’re proud to celebrate the world premiere of the new MINI Clubman here in Shanghai. To tell you more, please welcome Bernd Koerber, our new Senior Vice President of MINI.

Bernd Koerber

Senior Vice President MINI

More than ever before, the MINI Clubman embodies driving fun and individual style in its class. Its concept with four doors and the two split doors at the rear continues to be unique. Building on that success, it now has a new front and rear appearance: A fresh design of the grille, new LED headlights and the rear lights in Union Jack design. The interior benefits from the new MINI Yours package. And customers can enjoy advanced digital services from MINI Connected.

MINI is all about emotion and 2019 will be an exceptional year for the brand! This year is MINIs 60th birthday, which we are celebrating with a highly appealing design model. This MINI 60 Years Edition is available as a 3-door and a 5-door. You can view them at our MINI stand. I hope to see you there!

Timo Resch

Vice President Sales and Marketing BMW Motorrad

BMW Motorrad is still growing strongly in China.

Last year our sales increased by 36 percent here.

A big “thank you” to our Chinese customers!

And this impressive bike will add to that momentum.

The BMW S 1000 RR shaped the brand with its outstanding dynamics when it was launched a decade ago. And it still dominates the segment. For the all-new 2019 “Double R” our goal was simple: “Make it even better”.

And we did just that: It is up to 14.5 kg lighter. The assistant systems make it easy to control – on public roads and also on the race track. And the new engine with BMW ShiftCam Technology makes this new Double R the most powerful bike we ever built. And, we’ve combined the power of M with Motorrad: This is the first motorcycle to feature an M package and M Performance parts such as carbon fibre wheels, an M sport seat and many more.

Let’s stay with the power of “M” and it’s back to Pieter Nota with some great new cars. Thank you.

Pieter Nota

Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG

Customer, Brands, Sales

Here they are!

The world premiere of two cars BMW M fans all over the world have been waiting for. Our X models accounted for around 40 percent of global BMW sales in 2018. So I’m very confident that the expansion of our high-performance line-up with the BMW X3 M (fuel consumption combined: 10.5 l/100 km; CO2 emissions combined: 239 g/km) BMW X4 M (fuel consumption combined: 10.5 l/100 km; CO₂ emissions combined: 239 g/km) will be a great success.

Both of them feature the most powerful straight-six petrol engine of any M model ever. We’re talking about 510 horsepower. And around 4.1 seconds from zero to a hundred in these Competition models here. Add to that power: M typical dynamics, agility and precision.

And now Ladies and Gentlemen:

The world premiere of the all-new BMW 3 Series Long Wheelbase – created exclusively for Chinese customers!

Every third BMW 3 Series is sold right here in China and eighty percent are long wheelbase models. Chinese and German engineers worked together to develop the new BMW 3 Series Long Wheelbase. More than ever, we focused on exceeding Chinese customers’ wishes. We combined the outstanding design of the BMW 3 Series with the most generous and comfortable interior in its class. Let’s take a closer look. The BMW 325 Li offers best-in-class roominess thanks to a wheelbase that is 11 cm longer, as well as China specific comfort features, such as extra soft headrests.

It also premieres BMW’s new smart digital character – the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant – in its Chinese version. With our Intelligent Personal Assistant, we offer cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology to make our customers’ lives easier. To demonstrate this and other digital features, I am delighted that one of our senior instructors here in China is with us today.

Vin Dong, the stage is yours.

Vin Dong, Senior Instructor BMW China.

Demonstration BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant

Pieter Nota

Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG

Customer, Brands, Sales

In a nutshell: Future mobility at the BMW Group is sustainable, connected and autonomous. The BMW iNEXT will take individual mobility to a whole new level in 2021. You can already take a closer look at the Vision iNext here on the stand.
It combines many future technologies. Of course, it’s fully-electric, with a range of over 600 kilometres.

It offers full connectivity, as well as the launch of highly-automated driving capabilities and a completely new interpretation of interior space – we call it “my favourite space”. This opens a whole new chapter for the BMW Group. Technologies from the iNEXT will be transferred to our entire model line-up.

Being mobile will continue to be a big part of our lives.

And I am very sure that China will play a leading role in this new era of mobility.

Thank you and Xie Xie.