“In China, For China”
BMW Brilliance Unveils New R&D Center, Drives Forward NEV R&D

(Beijing/Shenyang) On July 13th, 2017, BMW Brilliance held a ceremony to celebrate the grand opening of its New R&D Center, which is located at the company’s Plant Tiexi in Shenyang, China. With a wide range of new R&D facilities added by BMW Brilliance, China is the BMW Group's largest R&D Center outside of Germany. This reiterates BMW Group and BBA's commitment to "In China, For China" and further equips BBA for future growth.

Construction of the first phase of BBA's R&D Center began in 2012 and it opened in 2013. Since its establishment, the Joint Venture has steadily expanded its local R&D activities and competencies and built up its R&D facilities. A new engineering workshop and a new office building opened in September last year and early this year respectively. Following the upgrade of existing facilities and opening of a second testing center, BBA's New R&D Center is now fully built up. With overall scale increasing to more than 40,000m2, a five-fold increase from the original construction, the company's R&D strength has reached a new high level.

Committing to NEV Development, Continuing E-mobility Leadership

With the automotive industry undergoing a major transformation and mobility shifting towards electric, autonomous, intelligent and shared, BBA R&D has a clear focus on new energy vehicles. The team is Shenyang is driving major breakthroughs in NEV technology development and realizing full-process R&D in China from concept to delivery.

It was as early as 2011 that BBA initiated R&D activities and established its HV battery lab. The company has already produced four NEV models including the ZINORO 1E, BMW 530Le and the currently available ZINORO 60H and BMW X1 PHEV. A PHEV version of the all-new BMW 5 Series will enter the market next year.

BBA is devoted to the development of NEV core technologies. The New R&D Center is equipped with a Powertrain Hi-Flex and E-Machine Test Bench and is at the forefront of premium HV battery development. Supported by BMW Group’s highly advanced power battery design concept, BBA works with local partners to jointly develop world-class and tailored battery solutions in China. BBA has achieved full-process development and validation of its high voltage battery housing, which consists of electronics, mechanical design, system structure and functions, and integration. This in-house work ensures high quality and an excellent powertrain system for its premium NEVs. Furthermore, BBA is helping to strengthen and promote the fast development of China’s NEV battery industry by providing technical support to local suppliers for large-scale industrial production.

Later in 2017, BBA will begin operations at its HV battery assembly line, further strengthening its competitive edge in the NEV field. Owing to cutting-edge digitalized production technologies, BBA is capable of producing traditional energy models and new energy vehicles on the same production line. This has the advantage of greater flexibility in production.

BBA is committed to building a comprehensive NEV eco-system in China and aims to remain an e-mobility pioneer. The New R&D Center will take a leading role in the development of the company’s forthcoming and future NEV models.

Strong Local R&D Team and Facilities Support Local Network and Talent Development

BBA’s New R&D Center features state-of-art facilities and is capable of complete vehicle testing. As well as extensive test benches, laboratories and machinery, such as Climatic Chambers, an Insulation Lab for NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harshness) quality testing and an Emission Dyno Test Bench, BBA assures the quality of its vehicles through extensive track and real-world road testing.

BBA's R&D team is responsible for system and parts R&D, vehicle testing, quality work and homologation of all China exclusive models, including the long wheelbase versions of the BMW 3 and 5 Series, BMW X1 and the all-new BMW 1 Series Sedan. Throughout these processes, the R&D team proactively engages suppliers to develop capabilities and embed premium quality along the value added chain. In addition, the localization of international suppliers has supported the fast growth of BBA and attracted more investment into the city of Shenyang.

Through the upgrade of its local capabilities, the BBA R&D center is in an even stronger position to attract international expertise and foster local talent. The R&D center is led by a top-class management team that has created an innovative-thinking and inter-cultural team spirit with many Chinese engineers regularly visiting Germany for training and work assignments. With Chinese engineers and technicians making up more than 75% of the R&D workforce, the BBA R&D center is a cradle for nurturing excellent local talent. The establishment and development of the New R&D Center will attract even more hi-tech talent, including IT engineers, to Shenyang and Northeast China.

BBA opened its New Plant Dadong in May this year. With state-of-the-art Industry 4.0 technologies and highly digitalized production processes, the new plant is a role-model for innovative and sustainable production. In January last year, BBA established BMW’s only engine plant with a foundry outside of Germany. This extensive investment has made Shenyang the BMW Group’s largest production base worldwide. The opening of its new R&D Center continues this strong localization momentum and represents another milestone on the road towards "Made in China 2025".