BMW Group and Great Wall Motors will collaborate to jointly build future e-mobility models.
On November 29, The Spotlight Automotive Project jointly invested by BMW Group and Great Wall Motors was officially launched in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu Province. It is another milestone in innovative cooperation between the two companies following the signing of the 50-50 joint venture agreement in the presence of the leaders of China and Germany in 2018.
The groundbreaking ceremony was held with the attendance of Fan Jinlong, Member of the Standing Committee of Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Executive Deputy Governor, Lan Shaomin, Member of the Standing Committee of Jiangsu Provincial Committee of CPC and Secretary of Suzhou Municipal Party Committee, Li Yaping, Mayor of Suzhou, Shen Guofang, Secretary of Zhangjiagang Municipal Party Committee, Pan Guoqiang, Mayor of Zhangjiagang city, and Jack Wey, Chairman of Great Wall Motors, as well as Directors of BMW Group, Dr. Nicolas Peter and Klaus Fröhlich, and Zhao Guoqing, Senior Vice President of Great Wall Motors and Chairman of Spotlight Automotive Ltd.. In addition, Hao Jianjun, Chairman of Baoding Great wall Industry Co. Ltd, Dr. Rainer Feurer, Senior Vice President of BMW Group and Vice Chairman of Spotlight Automotive, Jochen Goller, President and CEO of BMW Greater China and Director of Spotlight Automotive Ltd., Hu Shujie, Senior Vice President of Great Wall Motors and Director of Spotlight Automotive Ltd., Dr. Udo Hänle, Senior Vice President of BMW Group and Director of Spotlight Automotive Ltd., Meng Xiangjun, Vice Production President of Great Wall Motors and Director of Spotlight Automotive Ltd, together with other leaders of BMW Group, Great Wall Motors and Spotlight Automotive witnessed the launch of The Spotlight Automotive Project.
The new and unique joint venture is embodied not only in the production but also in the joint development of pure electric vehicles in China, the world’s largest market for new energy vehicles. It is expected that MINI fully electric vehicles and new products of Great Wall Motors will be produced here.
The Spotlight Automotive Project enjoys a total investment of RMB 5.1 billion and expects to have 3000 employees with the new plant’s annual standard production capacity of 160,000 units.
“The Spotlight Automotive Project will be one of the most qualified, innovative and influential models of Sino-foreign cooperation in the history of Chinese automotive development,” said Jack Wey, Chairman of Great Wall Motors. He continued “The joint venture established by Great Wall Motors and BMW Group is a strong support for the globalization strategy of Great Wall Motors, which is an alliance between key players. We will work with BMW Group and the government to fulfill our commitment, drive the construction of the factory, boost the project into production and maintain operation and development.”
“China has become a driving force of innovation, especially in the areas of electrification and digitization, China is leading the global market,” R&D Director of BMW Group Klaus Fröhlich said, “Today, we have opened a new chapter in our cooperation. As a leader in e-mobility, BMW Group has rich experience and will make the most of the advantages together with Great Wall Motors, the leader in the Chinese automobile industry, to propel the development and production of new products.”
At the press conference, Dr. Nicolas Peter, Finance Director of BMW Group said “Today is an important day for further cooperation between China and Germany to promote the development of high-end compact electric vehicles. Spotlight Automotive will enable us to further increase our capacity and build more attractive MINI pure electric vehicles. At the same time, the MINI brand also took a key step in their electric strategy. The joint venture with Great Wall Motors underlines the importance of the Chinese market for the BMW Group and our firm confidence in the robust development of the Chinese automobile industry.”
Fan Jinlong, Member of the Standing Committee of Jiangsu Provincial Committee of CPC and Executive Deputy Governor, expressed The Spotlight Automotive Project has created a new model of opening up and cooperation in the Chinese automobile industry and will certainly promote the industrial transformation and upgrading in Suzhou and even Jiangsu Province. “Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government will give full support to the construction of The Spotlight Automotive Project, treat all enterprises in Jiangsu as local enterprises and create an international, law-based and convenient business environment for all enterprises,” he said.
“The Spotlight Automotive Project is a key step in the development of advanced manufacturing in Suzhou,” said Lan Shaomin, Member of the Standing Committee of Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of Suzhou Municipal Party Committee, “Suzhou will strive to create a more international, law-based and convenient business environment, pay more attention to ‘being user-oriented and focus on customer experience’, and fully support the construction, capacity release and development guidance of the project as soon as possible.”
Being close to the port, Zhangjiagang has a stable and reliable supplier system, skilled talents and good infrastructure making it an ideal place to build a new plant. In addition, Jiangsu Province is a leader in finance, education, science and technology nationwide. The establishment of the Spotlight Automotive plant in Zhangjiagang will integrate the technologically advanced products of both shareholders and the high-quality local cultural and natural resources, creating high-quality products whilst promoting local economic development.
At the inauguration ceremony, Zhao Guoqing, Chairman of Spotlight Automotive delivered an introduction to the project. “The project integrates R&D, production, warehousing and logistics and the products will be for the global market. Joint R&D and production are the highlight of the project. Based on the R&D capabilities and resources of both shareholders and supported by the technical experience and operational practice of BMW Group in the global market, Spotlight Automotive has realized a new business mode of “joint R&D, Made in China and serving global customers” ethos pf the project. Under the new mode, the joint venture company realizes a win-win cooperation with complementary resources in a real sense, giving full commitment to the advantages of both shareholders in resource, efficiency, technology and quality.”
As planned, the products of the Spotlight Automotive will gain access to the sales and service networks of the BMW Group and Great Wall Motors respectively. Both sides will continue to work with existing sales and service network partners.
“The official startup of The Spotlight Automotive Project is a milestone of Zhangjiagang’s modern economic system,” said Shen Guofang, Secretary of Zhangjiagang Municipal Party Committee. “Zhangjiagang will establish the project-oriented concept, bring the best resources, create a first-class environment, and make every effort to promote the completion of The Spotlight Automotive Project.” He added.
The inauguration ceremony marks the official establishment of The Spotlight Automotive Project and the start of a new journey of cooperation between BMW Group and Great Wall Motors. It is believed that under the cooperation between BMW Group and Great Wall Motors in technology and production, The Spotlight Automotive Project will achieve the joint effect of “one plus one is greater than two”. Meanwhile, with the further advancement of The Spotlight Automotive Project, the new joint venture that symbolizes light, glory, cleanliness, energy and speed will also create a new landscape of new energy automobile industry.
