World of Production Flexible production – aligned with the market

The Spartanburg plant – known as “Home of the X” – is a prime example of the Company’s strategic distribution of value creation. Given that North America is the principal market for BMW X models, with sales accounting for around half of the production volume, these vehicles are also produced locally. Production based on market demand reduces currency risks and strengthens the resilience of the production network. Europe, the US and China each produce more or less the same number of BMW Group vehicles as are sold there. Furthermore, Spartanburg was once again the largest exporter of vehicles from the US in 2024 in terms of value – with its exports totalling more than 10 billion US dollars.

The BMW Group is currently investing 1.7 billion US dollars in the South Carolina site – the largest single expansion in the history of the plant. In this context, the plant is gearing up for electromobility. This means that, by the end of 2026, the same production line will be able to produce all-electric, combustion and plug-in hybrid vehicles. A high-voltage battery assembly plant is being built in nearby Woodruff to supply Gen6 vehicle batteries. In keeping with its “local for local” approach, the BMW Group is setting up battery production in or in close proximity to its production plants.

BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd. (BBA) is stepping up the use of digital technologies at its production plants in Shenyang. They employ comprehensive data monitoring: an intelligent, AI-supported system that monitors the entire production process and the consumption of water, electricity and gas in real time, thus facilitating their optimal use.

Using renewable energies also helps to reduce carbon emissions. A large-scale geothermal energy project will ensure the heating supply for the on-site Powertrain Plant and the Gen6 high-voltage battery production facility. As part of the project, 28 geothermal wells have been installed over an area measuring 580,000 square metres.

Shenyang is relying on BEACON – a self-developed technology platform – in order to optimise opportunities in the areas of quality control, identifying irregularities, intelligent site management, logistics planning and energy management. BEACON continuously integrates state-of-the-art AI applications like LLMs, Multimodal Models and AI agents to drive forward the use of generative AI and digitalisation at the BMW Group in China.

At Dingolfing, BMW 5 and 7 Series models travel autonomously for over a kilometre through the plant – from the assembly line to the short test course to the finishing area. “Automated Driving In-Plant” (AFW) is possible thanks to Europe’s largest infrastructure for LiDAR, a remote sensing technology. The vehicles use laser lights and sensors along the route to help them navigate and detect obstacles. Following successful certification, the pilot project was scaled up to include Plant Leipzig in 2024; other plants are set to follow. The BMW Group plans to extend the use of Automated Driving In-Plant to other areas in the future, including driving through testing zones and use in outdoor distribution areas.

In addition, cloud-based and AI-supported methods are optimising processes right from the production line. Car2X, for instance, connects vehicles with the system in real time. The vehicles communicate autonomously with plant personnel and document any irregularities, thus actively participating in their own production process. This adds an extra level of production quality assurance. What is more, the AIQX (Artificial Intelligence Quality Next) IT platform automates quality control using sensors and AI.