China Direct

BMW and Alibaba to build Shanghai innovation hub

 

CBI member, BMW, has announced that it is building a new innovation hub in Shanghai in partnership with Alibaba.

In a press statement released last Friday, BMW outlined how it hoped that the two companies could form a strategic alliance, by harnessing their respective strengths and resources, to explore enhanced cooperation between BMW and Chinese tech start-ups focusing on the internet and cars.

BMW will offer affiliated start-ups technical training and consulting services, while also providing office space for at least 30 companies, and financial docking services for no less than 20 enterprises or teams.

Jochen Goller, president and CEO of BMW China, said: "The auto industry is undergoing a major transformation driven by technological development […] in the midst of industrial upgrading and transformation, we need to keep an open mind and to collaborate with outstanding Chinese innovation powerhouses in order to scale new technologies for future mobility."

Ren Geng, vice-president of Alibaba, said: "The base's establishment underscores the innovative forces driving future mobility. With the joint efforts of our partners, we are offering an open innovation incubation ecosystem to accelerate the growth of the start-ups."

BMW and Great Wall Auto begin work on China plant

 

 

CBI member BMW has announced that it has broken ground on a new factory in China that will produce battery-powered Mini cars. The factory will be managed in partnership with Chinese domestic automobile manufacturer, Great Wall and the collaboration will be named Spotlight Automotive.

Klaus Fröhlich, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Development, said at the official ceremony to mark the inauguration of Spotlight Automotive: “Today we are taking the next step in our collaboration. With the BMW Group as a pioneer in the field of electromobility and Great Wall as a major player and expert in industrialisation in the Chinese market, we are joining forces for development and production of the future electric MINI and new Great Wall models.”

BMW Chief Financial Officer, Nicolas Peter said that the partnership with Great Wall will help BMW to bring down the costs for electrification, especially for smaller cars; which was the automobile industry’s number one challenge.

Executives from BMW and Great Wall were present on Friday for the casting ceremony, held in an empty field on the outskirts of the city of Zhangjiagang in Jiangsu province. The €650m factory will be completed by 2022 and have the capacity to manufacture 160,000 petrol and electric vehicles annually, a portion of which will be exported. BMW will only manufacture electric Minis at the plant.

 

 

BMW to provide car hailing service in Chengdu

 

CBI member, BMW has obtained a license to provide ride-hailing services in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province. The granting of the license is a coup for the German automobile manufacturer, since it is the first foreign marque to obtain permission.

The company announced on Wednesday that it had established a subsidiary called BMW Mobility Services earlier this year to obtain the license and run BMW’s ride sharing arm.

China’s ride-sharing industry is big business. The market is already worth $30bn and is expected to grow to $72bn by 2020. However, it is currently dominated by Didi Chuxing, the Beijing-based ride-hailing app company, which enjoys over 90% market share.

Nonetheless, foreign car manufacturers have recently begun to increase their interest in the market after Didi suffered a public relations and regulatory crisis following the murder of two passengers using their service.

The scandal has given foreign car manufacturers a rare sense of opportunity within the ride-sharing space. For example, off the back of the Didi scandal, Daimler and Geely also announced a ride-sharing partnership earlier this year. Their partnership revolves around a joint venture, however, and is not yet ready to be launched.

Joseph Patterson, the head of BMW Mobility Services has announced that he hopes BMW’s own ride-sharing venture will be up and running before the end of the year.

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BMW to spend $4bn to control China JV

CBI member, BMW has announced that it will spend $4.16bn to take total control of its joint venture with Brilliance Automotive, which has been manufacturing BMW branded sedan cars in China for the marque since 2003

The German car manufacturer will up its stake in Brilliance Automotive from 50% to 75%.

The deal was apparently given the ‘green-light’ during a meeting between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and a delegation from the European Union in July, but BMW delayed making any further announcements since the deal is still subject to regulatory and shareholder approval.

BMW expect the deal to be finalised in 2022, the same year that the Chinese government plans to lift restrictions on joint venture requirements for car manufacturing in China.

The German firm also announced that it will invest more than 3bn euros expanding its existing production capacity in China. BMW aims to build capacity in China from 450,00 to 650,000 units by the early 2020s, a manageable target considering the company announced in February that it would begin producing the Mini in China also.

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BMW driving the e-Mini brand in China

CBI Member The BMW Group is in advanced discussions to ramp up the global success of its MINI brand through a new joint venture in China. A key element of the brand’s continued strategic development will be local production of future battery-electric MINI vehicles in the world’s largest market for electro-mobility.

To this end, the BMW Group has signed a “letter of intent” with the Chinese manufacturer Great Wall Motor. In addition to production of the first battery electric MINI at the main plant in Oxford starting in 2019, this signals a further clear commitment to the electrified future of the MINI brand.

Next steps will be to agree on the details of a possible joint venture and cooperation agreement and clarify aspects such as the choice of production location and concrete investments. The BMW Group has no plans to set up an additional sales organisation in China.

The company is firmly committed to continuing the successful cooperation with the established sales structure.

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CBI China Member Success Summary June 2017

Dear CBI Member & Partner,

Kindly find the CBI's June 2017 Member Success Summary attached below for your review.

In it we provide insights into more than 19 different member companies ranging from Hays to Huawei and BMW to Tate & Lyle.

  Download CBI China Celebrating CBI member success in China_June 2017.docx1

 

CBI member BMW opens new Regional Distribution Centre (RDC) in Shenyang

 

On October 18, 2016, CBI member BMW celebrated the grand opening of its newest Regional Distribution Center (RDC) in Shenyang, the fifth in China together with the existing RDCs in Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu and Foshan, marking the preliminary completion of BMW’s aftersales logistics network and a milestone of its localization in China.

The new RDC Shenyang will create synergy with BMW Plant Tiexi to further respond to the increasing customer demand in the Northeast region and meet the company’s strong business growth. ‘The RDC Shenyang is another major move of BMW Group in its investment in China and long-term commitment to the Northeast region, which also reflects our aftersales strategy in China.

It will provide an efficient logistics support for comprehensively increasing customer satisfaction,’ said Mr. Claus Eberhart, Vice President of Aftersales, BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd.. ‘The new RDC will reduce the time of order response and parts delivery for the dealers in the Northeast region and ensure the quality of parts, as well as supporting dealers in other regions in China to provide a higher-level of customer experiences.’

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CBI Member Successes in China - Snapshot of Year of the The Horse

 

Dear CBI members and strategic partners,

China Direct would like to share with you a snapshot of CBI members' successes in China through 2014. We hope that you found our new format easy to use, visual and informative and wish you all every success for the forthcoming year of the sheep.

Please do keep sending us your updates and press releases so that your business can also be highlighted in 2015.

Thank you.

Download CBI Beijing, Member Milestones in China, 2014

Celebrating CBI Member Success in China April 2014

 

A number of CBI members were busy raising their profile in China this April, engaging in many exciting activities across a wide range of industries.

Please click here to access our latest briefing, which highlights the recent successes of 33 CBI members.

• Alstom
• Arup
• Atkins
• BBC
• Benoy
• Bentley Motors
• BMW Group
• British Airways
• The British Film Institute
• Bupa
• Burberry
• The Coca-Cola Company
• EY
• Ford Motor Company
• Gatwick Airport
• Heathrow Airport Limited
• HSBC
• Huawei
• Hytera
• Jaguar Land Rover
• Jones Lang LaSalle
• Kingfisher
• L’Oréal
• Marks & Spencer
• Mott MacDonald
• Prudential
• Rolls-Royce
• The Royal Bank of Scotland
• Starbucks Coffee Company
• UBM
• The University of Nottingham
• Vodafone
• WPP

Celebrating CBI member success in China: March 2014

 

Dear CBI members and strategic partners,

Anumber of CBI members were busy raising their profile in China this March, engaging in many exciting activities across a wide range of industries.

Please click here to access our latest briefing, which highlights the recent successes of 33 CBI members.

Members mentioned include:

• Airbus
• Anglo American
• Arup
• Atkins
• Balfour Beatty
• Benoy
• BMW Group
• British Airways
• Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business
• DHL
• Ford Motor Company
• Gabbitas Education
• GE
• Heathrow Airport Limited
• HSBC
• Huawei
• Jaguar Land Rover
• Jones Lang LaSalle
• Mott MacDonald
• Norton Rose Fulbright
• Pearson
• PepsiCo
• Pinewood Shepperton
• PwC
• Rolls-Royce
• Shell
• Standard Chartered
• Starbucks Coffee Company
• Tate & Lyle
• UBM
• Unilever
• Unipart Group
• The University of Nottingham