BMW Group Strategy.
Our strategy.
The world around us is changing – and we at the BMW Group feel a responsibility to help shape it. After all, future generations will be more dependent than ever on individual and sustainable mobility. To make our contribution to a planet worth living on, we need firm goals to guide us. Find out here how we define these goals and become part of our joint journey into the future.
POSITION.
We stand for first class individual mobility and contribute to the sustainable development of our planet. We reconcile economy, ecology, and society. As a result, our customers enjoy outstanding products and demonstrate responsibility.
DIRECTION.
We offer inspirational products – today and for future generations. High profitability secures our independence as a company. We use our powerful innovations and our passion to shape the future of sustainable mobility.
STRATEGIC APPROACH.
We focus on our customers and meet their needs which differ across the world. We combine pioneering technologies, emotional products, and personalised customer support to create a unique overall experience.
COOPERATION.
We deliver top performance. Our values are the basis for cooperation. We work hand in hand internally and with our external partners. In doing so, we achieve maximum effectiveness, and together bring success to the company.
HOW WE MOVE BODY, HEART, AND MIND.
Learn more about our goals and our strategy firsthand: We spoke to people who move our company and push it forward, and we asked what drives them. In the following videos you will find out about their motivation and what our strategy means to them personally.
Current highlights.
Driving pleasure – that is what drives BMW.
From strategy to action.
How do we keep our brands distinctive and desirable in the future? At the BMW Group, we rely on the strength of our brands. As competition becomes even fiercer, we are sharpening each brand’s profile and refining its characteristic design language. This means leveraging the possibilities and freedom offered by new technologies in the field of individual mobility – ensuring that our brands’ products remain the preferred choice of our discerning customers in the future.
Our implementation: effective.
BMW i Inside Future.
Technologies like electromobility and autonomous driving open up new design possibilities for the vehicle interior, as the driver becomes a passenger and gains more “me time”. The BMW i Inside Future sculpture unveiled at CES 2017 presents visions and ideas for the future of car-interior design. Depending on what is needed, the vehicle interior can serve as a retreat, an office or an entertainment space. This also expands the spectrum of features available in the vehicle, especially with regard to digital services.
VISION NEXT 100 vehicles.
Four brands, four visionary concept cars – four ideas for the future of mobility. To mark our centenary, we provided a glimpse of tomorrow’s mobility in our VISION NEXT 100 concept vehicles. Autonomous, connected, emission-free – each vehicle presented a solution that embodied the characteristics of that brand. Together, they create a complete picture of the BMW Group’s premium mobility for the coming decades.
What will the individual mobility of the future look like? To answer this question, we are developing vehicles today for the individual mobility of tomorrow. We aim to build a sustainable future and make mobility an emotional experience. Every one of our products meets our customers’ high standards – and therefore ours, too.
Our implementation: effective.
BMW X4.
The BMW Group seeks to connect people, vehicles and services. The new BMW X4 already demonstrates how the car can be connected with smartphones, smartwatches or Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant via BMW Connected and the flexible Open Mobility Cloud platform. The BMW X4 therefore provides a good example of how we are using innovative technologies to create unique customer experiences.
BMW X2.
We believe that individual premium mobility also means giving each of our brands’ products a unique character. That is how the BMW X2 was born. With its focus on connectivity, dynamic, agile performance and extravagant design, the BMW X2 will introduce our BMW brand to a completely new, urban target group of active young people and those who are young at heart.
How will technology change mobility? There is no doubt that the automotive industry is facing profound changes. We see change as an opportunity to set new industry standards in areas such as autonomous driving, electrification and connectivity. To achieve this, we are working with leading technology companies and developing flexible vehicle architectures that will allow us to future-proof our product range across all brands, segments and concepts.
Our implementation: effective.
Geared towards electrification.
Our understanding of sustainable electromobility encompasses many things – starting with environmentally-friendly development and production of vehicles, a reliable supply of electricity from renewable sources for customers on the go and at home, and extending all the way to value-added solutions for batteries at the end of their vehicle life. We call this “360° Electric”.
Equipped for the future.
Customers and markets all over the world have different mobility needs – due, in part, to different laws. The BMW Group is responding to this with a highly flexible vehicle architecture and a production system that can build a wide range of drive train variants on the same production line. In this way, we can ensure that we are always able to deliver the vehicle of choice to each customer.
25 electrified models in 2023.
An important aspect of the BMW Group Strategy is rapid expansion of electromobility. By 2023, we will have 25 electrified models. We are expanding our current range of nine electrically-powered models in 2018, with the addition of the BMW i8 Roadster. Additional models will follow, from 2019, including a battery-electric MINI and the electric BMW X3. The BMW iNext will then become the first series-production car to combine electric and autonomous driving with new connectivity options.
A pioneer – 100,000 times over.
With the BMW i3, we became the first premium manufacturer to bring our own independent concept for urban, electric-powered mobility to the roads, back in 2013. Since then, we have produced more than 100,000 BMW i3s at our plant in Leipzig and built up more than five years of intensive experience in production of electric-powered vehicles.
Battery Cell Competence Centre.
We have been conducting research into battery cells for years. This expert knowledge was used in developing the BMW i models. To further its research, the BMW Group is now opening a Battery Cell Competence Centre in Munich. Experts will work on cell design and cell technology in its laboratories, research and prototype facilities – securing the company vital technological expertise for developing batteries with even higher performance.
High-power charging network by 2020.
With the formation of IONITY, we are also taking action in charging infrastructure. The joint venture between the BMW Group, Daimler AG, Ford Motor Company and VW AG, including Audi and Porsche, paves the way for building the most powerful rapid-charging network for electric vehicles in Europe. Construction and operation of a total of around 400 high-power charging stations by 2020 are important steps towards making electromobility suitable for everyday use, even over longer distances, and convincing a growing number of people of its benefits.
Leipzig Battery Storage Farm.
The Leipzig Battery Storage Farm takes sustainable mobility a step further. The storage facility uses old batteries from BMW i3s to optimise energy flows at the plant. In this way, after their mobile use has come to an end, up to 700 batteries can embark on a profitable second life in a new type of energy-based business model. The farm has a maximum storage capacity of 15 megawatt hours.
Digital Energy Solutions.
In addition to mobility services, we are also working on innovative solutions in the field of energy management. One step in this direction is the cooperation between the BMW Group and Viessmann. The central component of this collaboration is an IT system for intelligent management of energy systems. Our global production network already uses energy data management to lower power consumption, increase production security and enhance product quality. Other companies are now taking advantage of our expertise. Going forward, the energy concept is also designed to form the basis of private customer solutions.
Battery production in China.
In China, also, we are continuing to drive the expansion of electromobility. Together with our partner, Brilliance China Automotive Holdings, we have opened a "High-Voltage Battery Centre" in Shenyang. The battery factory supplies the nearby BMW Brilliance Automotive joint-venture plant in Dadong. By securing know-how in new technologies in this way and leveraging cost benefits, we are able to gain a decisive competitive edge.
Lightweight Design Centre in Landshut.
Intelligent lightweight construction is one of the key technologies for future mobility. At the Lightweight Design Centre in Landshut, around 160 engineers are conducting research into the innovative high-tech materials and composite construction concepts of the future. This think tank is located close to production and exploits the potential of digitalisation through the use of virtual reality, 3D printers and collaborative robots.
Autonomous Driving.
What are the opportunities created by digitalisation? We know for sure that this trend will change all areas of the company. This means that we will not only have to fundamentally change our products, but also our development, production, sales and administrative processes. Nevertheless, we see this as an opportunity – because we believe that innovative technologies are an essential component for unique customer experiences and sustainable business development.
Our implementation: effective.
FIZ Future.
Technological changes, driven by digitalisation and connectivity, demand agile team structures, fast decision-making and implementation. The expansion of our FIZ Research and Innovation Centre is geared towards this new world of work. With around 26,000 jobs, the FIZ is already the BMW Group’s largest site. The facility will now be expanded in phases, up to 2050, to create around 15,000 new jobs. Our main focus is on open, flexible spaces where staff can come together to share ideas and implement them quickly.
Industry 4.0.
The digitalisation of production opens up totally new possibilities for us – including, for example, smart logistics, which allows the supply of materials to plants to be adjusted quickly and flexibly to changing conditions. Or intelligent methods of automation, in which collaborative robots take care of energy-consuming tasks. Innovative technologies impact the entire production value chain – from press shop to body shop, paint shop and assembly.
Virtual reality in development.
We have made use of virtual reality systems in the development process since the 1990s. We are now consolidating our role as a pioneer in this field through systematic use of VR from the videogame industry. With the help of new technology, vehicle functions and new interior concepts can now be realised much more quickly. It is also possible, for example, to simulate city driving – which saves costs and reduces development time.
Artificial intelligence.
In these days of maximum connectivity, every driver and every vehicle generates a huge amount of data that needs to be processed – not to mention the data exchanged between vehicles, infrastructure and road users. But how can this information be evaluated for use in autonomous driving? The answer lies in an algorithm that learns with every kilometre and takes the habits of each owner into account. To develop intelligent assistance functions, the BMW Group is working with IBM and using the artificial intelligence of its Watson system.
Our actions will secure long-term success.
There is strong evidence that our implementation of the BMW Group Strategy is having a very concrete effect. It sets clear guidelines and provides the company with a roadmap for shaping the individual premium mobility of tomorrow. We will continue to chart our own course and develop the BMW Group in a sustainable way that will secure its future. In doing so, we are guided by our goal of long-term, profitable growth for the company.
