BMW Group Continues to Increase Investment in Future Mobility to Welcome Die Neue Klasse

Munich/Beijing. BMW Group’s financial results for 2023 showed that the BMW Group achieved its business objectives for financial year 2023, as forecasted. Despite strong competition and volatile conditions, the company successfully maintained growth, creating Group revenues of €155.5 billion. A total of 2,554,183 premium vehicles were delivered to customers in the year, up 6.4% year-on-year. 824,932 BMW and MINI vehicles were sold in China, an increase of 4.2%.

Throughout 2023, BMW and MINI BEV models were the main drivers of growth. The BMW Group delivered a total of 375,716 fully-electric cars to customers worldwide in 2023, up 74.2% year-on-year, achieving a share of around 15% of total sales, as planned. Including the PHEVs delivered, the BMW Group sold a total of 565,875 electrified vehicles (+30.5%). In the Chinese market, which is at the forefront of electrification, the BMW Group delivered around 100,000 BMW BEVs in 2023.

As an innovation-driven company, continuous R&D investment, a highly efficient R&D system and an outstanding R&D team are the foundations for staying at the forefront of the industry. The BMW Group has always attached great importance to investing in cutting-edge technology. To continuously enhance its innovative strength, the Group's investment in R&D has remained above 6 billion euros for three consecutive years, increasing significantly to €7.538 billion in 2023 (+13.8%), bringing R&D ratio to 5%. In addition to development expenses for new models, like the future models for the NEUE KLASSE, R&D spending was primarily focused on further electrification and digitalization of the vehicle portfolio and on automated driving.

The Neue Klasse models will take a big step for the future of the BMW brand and its products. It is planned that the production of the Neue Klasse will begin in 2025. At least six NEUE KLASSE models will begin production across the BMW Group's worldwide production network in the first 24 months. The Neue Klasse will begin production in China starting from 2026 based in Shenyang. The NEUE KLASSE will be characterized by three central aspects: 1) a completely newly developed wiring harness with a fundamentally new UX/UI concept; 2) a newly developed and high-performance generation of electric drive trains and batteries with significant efficiency improvements; and 3) a new level of sustainability throughout the lifecycle.

Fully enhancing the R&D Competence in China to get well-prepared for the Neue Klasse

The Group's continuous investment in R&D and the Neue Klasse models are closely related to the Chinese market. The company has set up the R&D function in China for nearly 20 years and has established the largest and most complete R&D network outside of Germany in China, with four major R&D and innovation bases located in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang and Nanjing equipped with full-process automotive R&D functions as well as full-stack ICV software development capabilities. In 2023, the R&D system was further upgraded: the Shanghai R&D Centre was upgraded once again in July; the Phase II expansion of the Shenyang R&D Centre was officially opened, which strengthened BMW's local development and validation capabilities for NEVs. The facility features 19 new laboratories, 17 of which are dedicated to testing new energy vehicles. At the end of last year, the upgraded EMC laboratory was opened at the Shenyang R&D Centre, creating a stronger "immune system" for BMW products in the digital era with electromagnetic interference and immunity testing standards used in the aviation industry. BMW has also made progress in the development of autonomous driving. In December 2023, BMW Group vehicles equipped with L3 functionality obtained automated driving test licenses for high speed roads in Shanghai.

In the past three years, the team has tripled in size, and now has more than 3,000 employees focusing on software development, autonomous driving and UI/UX design. BMW's R&D and design teams in China are deeply involved in many key aspects of the Neue Klasse, and Chinese innovations will become a major highlight.

The BMW Group's capital expenditure increased in the full year to €8,836 million (+8.5%). Substantial investment was channelled into important areas for the future of the company, such as the electrification and autonomous driving, the development of high-voltage battery production facilities in various markets and the construction of plants in Debrecen, Hungary.

Continuously upgrading the production system and accelerating the pace toward the Neue Klasse in China

Investments in China are also a key part, including the BMW Gen6 project and the upgrading of the existing plants at the Shenyang production site. Adhering to the BMW iFACTORY production strategy, the Gen6 project involves a total investment of 10 billion RMB, and the main building has already been completed. The new production facility will lay the foundation for advancing the BMW Group's latest technology in China as well as low-carbon, high-efficiency and high-quality HVB production, accelerating the pace toward the Neue Klasse in China.

In 2024, the production network related to the Neue Klasse will be further expanded and the BMW Group will hit the capex and R&D peak. The R&D costs will mainly be focused on electrification of the vehicle portfolio and digital innovations, such as connectivity, software stacks and automated driving. The extensive capex will be made in its plants, its range of premium vehicles and innovative technologies.

Based on its strong confidence and commitment in the Chinese market, the BMW Group has continued to invest in China and expand its business layout in China. Since 2010, approximately 105 billion RMB has been invested in the BMW Shenyang Production Base. The BMW Group will continue to be at home in China, continuously enhance the strategic position of China in the company's future, and help boost the high-quality development of China's auto industry with continuous products and technological innovation.