BMW Group to produce next-gen BEVs in China from 2026

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On May 18, the day where BMW Group celebrated the 20th anniversary of BMW Brilliance’s foundation, the German luxury carmaker announced that it will produce its next-gen full electric vehicles—dubbed ‘Neue Klasse’—in Shenyang city, capital of China's Liaoning province, from 2026 onwards.

At the same time, BMW Group broke ground in the city an expansion project for its six-generation power battery production, which will involve a total investment of 10 billion yuan and cover a planned area of 240,000 square meters.

Photo credit: BMW China

In Nov. last year, BMW Group announced its joint venture in China, BMW Brilliance, would invest around 10 billion yuan to expand the battery production facility at its manufacturing base in Shenyang, as part of the efforts to expedite its transition towards electrification.

The new investment agreement followed a phase of extensive upgrading at the BMW production base in Shenyang, with both the Plant Dadong Extension and 15-billion-yuan Plant Lydia opening in the first half of 2022. Together with the opening of the iFACTORY Plant Lydia, the new battery production project will further strengthen BMW's BEV production capabilities in China.

BMW Brilliance's battery production facility started operations in 2017. The facility, which was the first of its kind built by global premium carmakers, expanded in 2020 with the completion of the second phase.