news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

Recently, the MINI brand under the BMW Group launched the first domestically produced electric car, the all-new electric MINI COOPER, which was put into production at the Beam Automotive production base.

Beam Automotive is a joint venture established by BMW and Great Wall Motors in a 50:50 ratio. It is BMW's first pure electric vehicle joint venture project worldwide, with a total investment of approximately RMB 5.1 billion and a planned production capacity of 160,000 vehicles per year.

The new electric MINI COOPER has launched five models, with a price range of 189,800-266,800 yuan. The entry-level CLTC has a range of 456 kilometers, and the high-end CLTC has a range of 452 kilometers. Compared with the MINI COOPER fuel car version (priced at 199,800-310,600 yuan), the price of the electric MINI COOPER has been reduced, with the starting price reduced by 10,000 yuan.

Over the past years, the MINI brand has been sold in the Chinese market in the form of imports. The Oxford plant in the UK is MINI's main production base. MINI's first electric car, the MINI COOPER SE, was born in the Oxford plant and exported to the global market. At the end of 2022, BMW MINI brand executives said in an interview with the media that the Oxford plant would suspend the production of electric vehicles, and the next-generation pure electric model MINI Aceman would be produced in China.

At present, China has become the world's largest new energy vehicle market, with industrial chain advantages, and electric vehicles produced in China have cost advantages. The Chinese market has become a key area of ​​MINI's global strategy. In addition to the new electric MINI COOPER, Beam Auto's second mass-produced car MINI Aceman will be launched as early as this year. The car is positioned as a small pure electric SUV.

Great Wall Motors has previously stated that the cooperation between Great Wall and BMW is not only at the production level, but also includes joint research and development of pure electric vehicles in the Chinese new energy vehicle market. It is expected that future MINI pure electric vehicles and new products under Great Wall Motors will be put into production here. However, at present, Beam Automotive is only responsible for the production of two MINI electric models, and there has been no progress in the joint research and development of new products between the two brands.

In the era of fuel vehicles, Mercedes-Benz's Smart brand and BMW's MINI brand are both representatives of niche high-end in the automotive field. Although China has been MINI's fastest growing market in the world in the past few years, the sales of MINI and Smart in the Chinese market have shown a downward trend in the past two years. At the same time, due to the relatively niche market, they are also difficult to achieve a large scale in sales. The Chinese fuel vehicle market is being impacted by electric vehicles. Mercedes-Benz has launched two domestic Smart electric vehicles through cooperation with Geely, but unlike MINI, Smart has changed in appearance and size after being produced in China, abandoning the brand tone of high-end small cars that have been operating for many years and entering the ranks of family SUVs. Among them, the starting price of this year's new smart elf #1 has entered the 150,000 yuan level. The MINI electric vehicle launched this time still continues the design style of the MINI family and retains the brand tone.

Previously, the launch of Wuling Hongguang MINI EV brought micro electric vehicles into fashion. Currently, there are many players in this field and the competition is fierce. In the past two years, the sales of small electric vehicles have declined. According to the data of the China Passenger Car Association, the cumulative retail sales of micro pure electric vehicles in the first quarter of this year were 130,000, a year-on-year decrease of 11%. However, the positioning of the MINI brand and Wuling Hongguang MINI is different, and the price difference is large, so there will be no direct competition. In addition, whether it is a fuel car or an electric car, small cars are more popular in markets such as Europe and Japan. The electric vehicles produced by MINI in China will also be exported to the global market. Beam Auto is MINI's main export base in the world.

It is worth noting that the European Commission has announced temporary tariffs on electric vehicles produced in China imported into Europe, which may have a certain impact on the export of MINI electric vehicles. Recently, it was reported that BMW has asked the EU to reduce the import tariffs on electric MINIs produced in China. According to the EU's temporary regulations, the tariff on this model is currently the highest. This move is aimed at including this model in the ranks of companies cooperating with the investigation, which will reduce the tariff level from the currently planned 37.6% to 20.8%.

The MINI brand is one of the main positions of the BMW Group's electrification transformation. According to the plan, the MINI brand will launch its last fuel vehicle in 2025, and then put all pure electric models into production; by 2027, pure electric models will account for at least 50% of the MINI brand's sales; by early 2030, MINI will become the first brand under the BMW Group to achieve pure electrification.