"The future is more BMW", BMW is moving towards the era of intelligent electric

The domestic auto industry's new energy transformation has entered the second half, and competition is fierce. Many automakers are competing for sales and prices. Unlike many automakers who are rushing forward with their heads down, BMW seems to have a plan. While steadily advancing its main business, it has also found a better balance between historical inheritance and breakthrough innovation.

At the Beijing Auto Show which just concluded, the BMW Group presented a full lineup of 15 car series from two major brands. In addition to the newly released new pure electric BMW i4 and new BMW M4, the BMW 7 Series, the new BMW 5 Series and the BMW 3 Series representing BMW's large and medium-sized luxury cars also attracted much attention, especially the new BMW 5 Series that was launched at the beginning of the year, which fully demonstrated the future form of luxury smart connected cars.

Of course, the BMW Group had a splendid exhibition at the booth, and outside the booth it also deeply demonstrated its latest understanding of the future. On the eve of the Beijing Auto Show, BMW held the "BMW Liangma-2024 BMW Exploration New Generation Concept Exhibition" on the banks of the Liangma River. The BMW new generation concept car, which came to China for the first time, showed a new style of "very futuristic, more BMW" with the design style of personal luxury travel, outlining BMW's imagination of the future.

There is no doubt that today's BMW, a luxury car brand that is willing to keep pace with the times, is giving a clearer answer to the era of smart electricity in its own way.

New generation, BMW is moving towards the future

"Inheriting generations of classics and moving ahead of the times." The BMW New Generation concept car that made its debut this time represents the beginning of BMW's next-generation product series. For BMW, the term "new generation" contains both innovation and the inheritance of history.

The BMW new generation concept car uses the sixth-generation BMW eDrive electric drive technology and cylindrical battery cells for the first time, and is equipped with the first BMW panoramic view bridge. Through the new electronic and electrical architecture and advanced "domain control" design, the intelligent driving experience and pure driving pleasure are elevated to a higher dimension, redefining the future of smart luxury travel.

According to BMW's official statement, "Electrification, digitalization and sustainable development are the major trends in the automotive industry and define the cars of the future. BMW's new generation of models integrates the core innovations in the three major areas of future travel, and strengthens the sports and luxury labels of the BMW brand in an extremely modern and innovative way. 'New Generation' is not just a car, it represents the beginning of the next generation of BMW's new product series."

This also proves one point: the China debut of the new generation concept car reveals the characteristics of BMW's next-generation product series: "very futuristic, more BMW."

But perhaps this is the expectation of BMW Group Chairman Zipse, "With the launch of the new generation of models, we will reshape the entire company and our influence on future travel." And hidden behind this new generation concept must be BMW's confidence and determination to continue to maintain its leading position in China in the era of intelligent electric vehicles.

The new BMW 5 Series leads the way in the era of intelligent electric vehicles

There is no doubt that from the BMW Group Night to the official Beijing Auto Show, compared with other luxury brands that stick to China, BMW's enthusiasm for electrification has reached its peak. From the perspective of BMW, all products under the group are firmly moving into the era of intelligent electric vehicles in accordance with long-term planning, and the new BMW 5 Series is the best pioneer.

In the current trend of pursuing high-end and intelligent development, BMW has always adhered to the breakthrough and innovation concepts that every generation of BMW 5 Series has experienced, allowing the new BMW 5 Series to redefine the product in terms of intelligent technologies such as human-machine co-driving and driving-in-the-loop while continuing the luxury heritage of the 5 Series.

On the one hand, BMW adheres to the concept of "human ergonomics" and is committed to creating an intelligent driving assistance system for users that is easy to use, comfortable and reliable, with design and tuning that suits people's hearts to create a safe and comfortable driving experience.

In today's era of fully autonomous driving, the purpose of BMW's design of intelligent driving assistance systems is to give users clear boundaries of use with "safety first" human-machine co-driving, ensuring that users are always in the driving loop, that is, "driving in the loop". To ensure that the driver is fully involved in driving, the new BMW 5 Series uses an attention monitoring system and a capacitive sensing steering wheel. The new BMW 5 Series is equipped with an automatic lane change function with line of sight confirmation, which is a concrete manifestation of the concepts of "human ergonomics" and "driving in the loop". When the driver confirms the line of sight, the vehicle can automatically change lanes within the speed range of 60-180 km/h.

The third-generation BMW Intelligent Driving System equipped in the new BMW 5 Series is also based on the design concept of "safe use", and has achieved full-stack software self-development of target recognition, path planning, drivable area, computer vision fusion, road model, trajectory prediction, motion planning, control and decision-making, functional safety, safe use, and customer functions. It goes beyond the level of "functional safety" and enhances the psychological security of users.

On the other hand, as cars gradually enter a new era of intelligence and digitalization, the new BMW 5 Series uses an integrated floating curved screen and a BMW floating giant screen that naturally extends from the roof, turning the rear space into an exclusive private theater, equipped with an 8K ultra-high-definition, 31-inch giant screen, and supports 32:9 panoramic playback mode. It also introduces the Huawei App Market, allowing users to cast screens to play games, play videos, participate in meetings, and other functions in the back row. At the same time, the new BMW 5 Series is also equipped with a new operating system, which has a clearer and more logical interaction in the main screen layout.

Moreover, in order to extend the "driving pleasure" in the technological age, BMW has launched a more concrete image of the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant to make the digital experience more emotional.

可以说，通过全新BMW 5系一系列的革新，宝马电动化与智能化战略部署的阶段性成果颇为显著，这也显示出全新BMW 5系在面向智电时代时，正在以更加贴合时代的面貌和内在出现在消费者面前，成为宝马完成技术引领、品牌跃造的具象化表达。

Firmly stick to "home in China" and keep up with the times

还是在北京车展期间，齐普策又来到辽宁沈阳，宣布宝马将继续扩大投资200亿用于沈阳基地的升级与扩建。

"China's current development will determine the future direction of the world," Zipse said. "This investment plan not only once again demonstrates our profound expectations for China's economic development, but also reflects our firm confidence in continued win-win cooperation with Chinese partners. BMW will further demonstrate its long-term commitment to the Chinese market."

Indeed, "Home in China" has always been BMW's promise, and China now plays a vital role in BMW's electrification process.

Previously, in order to cater to the latest needs of the Chinese market, BMW has successively introduced various types of electric vehicles to China. The localization of BMW i3 and iX3 and the introduction of BMW iX have become the actions of this luxury brand to deeply understand the Chinese auto market. In terms of sales, the BMW Group will deliver about 100,000 BMW pure electric vehicles in 2023, which will become an important pillar of BMW's overall sales growth.

Today, the BMW Group is fully promoting its product offensive in almost all core market segments in China. In 2024 alone, BMW will launch more than 20 new BMW and MINI brand products in the Chinese market to better meet the changing needs of customers.

Therefore, whether it is product layout, technological leadership, or strategic deployment, BMW must make one attitude clear, which is to complete a new round of brand leap in China.

2024 marks the 30th anniversary of the BMW Group's entry into the Chinese auto market. In the past, the BMW Group has not only established the world's largest production system in China and the largest R&D system outside of Germany, but has also developed a full range of smart electric vehicle supply chains, ushering in a new era.

It is no exaggeration to say that BMW, which has been deeply connected with the Chinese market, may feed back to the world through China and apply the most effective development logic of electrification transformation to the entire smart electric era.