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"If you have experienced intense driving or even racing, you will understand that where the driver looks, the car will go. A real racer always looks at the target point in the distance and drives out the perfect cornering line." On July 18, Gao Xiang, President and CEO of BMW Group Greater China, used his experience as a racing enthusiast at the "4th BMW Group China Sustainability Summit" to show that BMW is aiming at the future of luxury cars and leading the trend of sustainable luxury.

"In the past, luxury often represented 'the best in the world', and today it also means 'following the best of heaven and earth'. Without sustainability, there is no luxury." said Gao Xiang, President and CEO of BMW Group Greater China. "Sustainable development is the job of BMW as a high-end brand." At the same time, sustainable development must go hand in hand with high quality. Only when it is perceived and experienced can it be more sustainable. >

Based on this concept, this summit adopts the creative form of "BMW Sustainable Trend Studio", focusing on the topic of automotive design CMF (Color, Material, Finishing) that is closely related to customers, and conveying the sustainable luxury that BMW has long pursued from the dimensions of color, material and craftsmanship. At the scene, many experts from BMW's R&D, production and after-sales service introduced in detail how BMW creates more value for customers with less environmental burden through innovative thinking and innovative means.

As the representative of driving pleasure, BMW is well aware that colorful colors can inspire different emotions, and thus constantly explores and leads the trend of automobile color design. To date, BMW has launched more than 1,000 paint colors, and currently provides more than 150 personalized custom paints to meet the diverse needs of users to show their individuality.

Behind the sensual car paint are solid industrial innovations and sustainable development initiatives. The painting process usually consumes a lot of energy and resources. In order to reduce energy consumption, on the one hand, BMW uses the latest paint products from professional suppliers. The current high-quality water-based paint has a water content of 46% and a volatile organic compound (VOC) content of only 9%; on the other hand, BMW always uses industry-leading painting technology and processes. Digital production technologies such as AI gluing and AI topcoat polishing ensure the stability of quality. The automatic optical inspection equipment (AOI) that can take 100,000 photos per second does not miss any flaws that are invisible to the naked eye. As early as 2013, BMW introduced the advanced integrated spraying process (IPP) in China. The 360-degree flip-type electric pool makes the whole vehicle painting without dead ends, while saving about 15% of water; the midcoat and color paint layer are combined into one, while ensuring quality, the spraying process is reduced to two processes. The elimination of the midcoat drying furnace alone can reduce the energy consumption of the paint shop by 15%. BMW's innovation has never stopped and has become a daily routine for all front-line employees - the BMW painting department alone has created 12 national environmental protection and energy-saving patents.

Saving water bit by bit, saving electricity by watt, and reducing emissions by centigrams have pushed the BMW Shenyang production base to become a benchmark for low-carbon production. For example, by expanding wastewater treatment capacity and reusing recycled water, a closed-loop water resource management system is built and the scope of recycled water use is expanded. In 2023, BMW's water consumption per unit production in China has dropped for six consecutive years, only 1.72 cubic meters per unit (2018: 2.47 cubic meters per unit). For another example, reducing waste generation from the source, the powertrain plant has achieved zero waste landfill in 2023, and all vehicle plants will strive to achieve this goal within this year. In addition, BMW also minimizes volatile organic compound emissions. In 2023, the volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions of a single unit produced by BMW Brilliance will be 0.11 kg per unit, which is only about one-sixth of the limit specified by national standards.

In the fight against climate change, the automotive industry is paying more attention than ever to innovative, forward-looking, resource-friendly materials. This is an important part of BMW's sustainable design and innovative material exploration.

Design innovation is the key to achieving sustainable luxury, because about 80% of the impact of a product on the environment is determined at the design stage. Therefore, every BMW designer has a "Design Brief" in hand, which details the material selection, testing and vehicle standards of "BMW Select", including quality and environmental friendliness. >

At present, BMW is gradually increasing the proportion of recycled materials used, including steel, aluminum, and power battery raw materials. At present, BMW has achieved closed-loop recycling of retired power batteries in China, recycling a total of 1,041 tons of battery recycled raw materials in 2023, which can be used to regenerate power batteries for about 2,400 BMW i3 eDrive35L. Looking to the future, the BMW i Circular concept car launched in 2021 has demonstrated a vision of 100% use of recycled materials and 100% recyclability. The light gold body of the concept car does not even use any paint at all to facilitate metal recycling. >

At the same time, BMW continues to develop high-quality innovative environmentally friendly materials, including "vegan" leather, bio-based materials, natural fiber materials, etc. For example, Veganza, a high-quality environmentally friendly material that does not contain animal-derived ingredients, has been used on the seat surface of the innovative pure electric BMW i5; Verdana, a "vegan" material that does not contain petroleum ingredients, has been used in the lower door panels and center console of the BMW New Generation X concept car. BMW is also exploring the use of innovative materials in cars in China, and has recently trial-produced new material samples containing coffee grounds.

Today, when digital technology has become the top priority of automobile design, BMW has created a luxury product that is both sustainable and technological through its unique craftsmanship. The innovative all-electric BMW i5 and all-electric BMW i7 replace the electroplated grille with a new "one-piece" integrated luminous grille - the BMW Ring Light Grille, making BMW's iconic "double kidney" design element more eye-catching. Inside the car, the BMW wraparound interactive light strip replaces the chrome trim, integrating the touch user interface, digital display, and ambient light into a light strip, using light and shadow to create more scene-like space atmospheres. In addition, the center console of the all-electric BMW iX is made of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood, which also integrates many functions, is hidden and responsive at any time, and combines simple design and powerful functions into one. "Technology magic" is available on demand, showing BMW's Shy Tech invisible technology concept.

Morning Car Review:

BMW held the 4th Sustainable Development Summit in China, which not only demonstrated its leadership and sense of responsibility in the field of sustainable development, but also contributed to the development of China's low-carbon economy. Through the summit, BMW will further strengthen its cooperation with upstream and downstream partners in the industry chain and jointly promote the green and low-carbon development of the entire industry. At the same time, BMW will continue to increase its investment in the Chinese market and bring more environmentally friendly, efficient and intelligent travel solutions to Chinese consumers.