Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - As the automaker increases the manufacture of electric vehicles (EVs), BMW of Germany said on Thursday th...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - As the automaker increases the manufacture of electric vehicles (EVs), BMW of Germany said on Thursday that formal manufacturing has started at a new plant in China with an investment of 15 billion yuan ($2.24 billion).
BMW's annual output in the largest auto market in the world will rise to 830,000 vehicles from 700,000 in 2021 thanks to the Lydia plant, its third auto assembly facility in China, which is situated in the northeastern city of Shenyang, Liaoning province.
According to BMW, the plant's flexible manufacturing lines are solely intended to be able to produce battery-powered electric cars in response to market demand.
The i3, a mid-sized sports sedan that is all electric, will be the first vehicle to leave the Lydia plant's assembly lines, according to BMW. This will bring the range of its EV models for Chinese customers to 13 miles beginning in 2019.
With sales more than doubling from a year ago, Tesla and Chinese automakers like BYD lead the expanding EV industry in China. Kings of the internal combustion engine era like Volkswagen and General Motors are lagging behind.
According to data from the China Association of Automotive Manufactures, batteries were used to power about a quarter of the cars sold in China in the first five months of this year.
According to a business filing, BMW sold 208,507 automobiles in China, its biggest market, in the first quarter, a 9.2% decrease from the same period last year.
$1 is equal to 6.6983 Chinese Yuan Renminbi.
