The BMW Group has partnered with Great Wall Motor to set up a new venture in China, Spotlight Automotive, which will produce electric vehicles. The Zhangjiagang county of the Suzhou city district, located within 100 kilometers northwest of Shanghai, was chosen as the location. The partnership is based on equality: the companies own 50% of the shares. The solemn ceremony of laying the first stone in the foundation of the new plant took place on November 29.
The enterprise will be able to produce 160,000 electric vehicles a year, its construction will be completed in 2022. The total investment will amount to 650 million euros.
The plant will launch the production of the Mini Cooper SE electric car, which, before mass production in China, will begin to be produced at the BMW plant in Oxford from 2020. Later, other models of the BMW Group should appear on the conveyor. It is also planned to assemble Great Wall electric vehicles.
Visually, the Mini Cooper SE is close to the 2017 concept of the same name. The car is driven by an electric motor from the BMW i3s, which develops 184 hp and 270 Nm. Acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h takes 7.3 seconds, top speed is limited to 150 km/h. A traction battery of a very modest capacity - only 32.6 kWh - provides the car with a power reserve of up to 270 kilometers on the WLTP cycle. This is less than the fresh new products in this segment - Peugeot e-208 and Opel Corsa-e. The Honda E offers about the same range.
The path to the launch of this project was very thorny. In February 2018, BMW and Great Wall signed an agreement of intent to form a joint venture. In the summer of 2018, an agreement on its creation was signed in Berlin, and the ceremony was attended by Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. A trade dispute between China and the US has forced BMW management to freeze plans for an export center in China and take a close look at the risks. Ultimately, on November 22, Great Wall received local government approval to build the plant.
BMW and Great Wall start building a joint electric car plant
