The BMW Group and Great Wall Motor are driving e-mobility forward by building a joint plant in China with a joint venture, Spotlight Automotive Limited, where the BMW Group will produce future fully-electric models of its MINI brand. The plant will have a standard capacity of up to 160,000 vehicles per year, which will require around 3,000 employees after the ramp-up phase. Both partners will together invest around 650 million Euro (more than five billion CNY). The construction phase is planned for 2020 to 2022.
As well as production, the innovative joint venture model also includes joint development of battery-electric vehicles in the world’s largest market for electromobility. The joint venture envisages production of future electric MINI vehicles, as well as several models and brands for Great Wall Motor. Following the launch of the brand-new first-generation fully-electric MINI, which will be built at Oxford and come to market in the first quarter of 2020, this is another important step towards the MINI brand’s electrified future.
