BMW Group

BMW will have 25 hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric models on sale by 2023, two years earlier than it initially planned. “We are moving up a gear in the transformation towards sustainable mobility, thereby making our company fit for the future," said Harald Kruger, chairman of the BMW board. "Over the past two years, we have consistently taken numerous decisions that we are now bringing to the roads. By 2021, we will have doubled our sales of electrified vehicles compared with 2019."

The BMW Group and Great Wall Motor have signed a joint venture agreement to produce electric vehicles for Mini in China, under the company name Spotlight Automotive Limited. Along with the upcoming electric Mini models, the joint venture will also produce EVs for Great Wall, with the facility to be located in the Chinese province of Jiangsu, north of Shanghai.

BMW Group has become the first worldwide carmaker to obtain a Shanghai Intelligent Connected Autonomous Driving Test License, allowing it to put self-driving vehicles through their paces on Chinese roads. Although it has demonstrated Level 3 autonomous technology under closed, Government-supervised conditions on a stretch of Chengdu highway in 2016, the license opens the door for more advanced testing.

BMW Group has announced an additional £250 million ($380 million) investment into its three UK-based Mini production facilities as it prepares to expand its line-up to 10 different models in the medium-term. The funds from Mini’s German-based parent company will be split between its assembly plant in Oxford, steel body pressing site in Swindon and engine plant at Hams Hall by the end of 2015, giving added job security to the 5500 workers employed within the UK Mini production network.