On November 30, BMW Group announced that BMW Brilliance and Mercedes-Benz (China) Investment announced the signing of a cooperation agreement, under which the two parties will establish a joint venture company with a 50:50 share ratio to operate a supercharging network in the Chinese market and jointly meet the growing demand for luxury charging services from Chinese customers.
According to the announcement, by the end of 2026, the joint venture plans to build at least 1,000 supercharging stations with advanced technology and about 7,000 supercharging piles in China. The first batch of charging stations is scheduled to start operating in China's key NEV cities from 2024, and will cover other cities and regions across the country in the future.
Under the wave of electrification, traditional multinational giants have already started the road of electrification transformation.
This year, Mercedes-Benz continued to enrich its product matrix of "gasoline and electricity", and successively launched a number of new energy models, including the EQS pure electric SUV, the all-new EQE pure electric SUV, the all-new AMG pure electric EQE 53, and the S 450 E L plug-in hybrid sedan. With the launch of new products, the sales of Mercedes-Benz's new energy products have risen significantly, and in the third quarter of this year, the sales of Mercedes-Benz pure electric models increased by more than 70% year-on-year.
BMW's performance was also strong, with a total of 69,603 BEVs sold in China in the first three quarters of this year, more than tripling year-on-year, with the BMW i3 and BMW ix3 contributing most of the sales, with 350,000 and close to 30,000.
As the sales of pure electric vehicles continue to rise, Mercedes-Benz and BMW will naturally consider improving energy replenishment facilities to prepare for the further development of the electric vehicle business. At present, the charging pile industry is still dominated by third-party operators, and most car companies usually choose to cooperate with third parties to lay out energy replenishment networks, and Mercedes-Benz and BMW are no exception.
As of the end of October 2023, 600 BMW authorized dealers have been equipped with charging facilities, and BMW's public charging network has access to more than 580,000 charging piles across the country, including 320,000 DC fast charging piles, covering more than 320 cities.
As of the end of November, Mercedes-Benz's public charging service has been connected to more than 500,000 public charging piles across the country, covering more than 340 cities and the "ten vertical, ten horizontal and two ring" highway fast charging network. In October this year, the first batch of Mercedes-Benz super charging stations in China and the first batch in the world were completed and put into use in Chengdu and Foshan.
Compared with the layout of the charging network through the cooperation of third-party charging pile operators, self-built piles can bring users a better service experience and form a brand premium.
Taking NIO as an example, the layout of the energy replenishment network has always been a label that reflects NIO's service level. Previously, NIO sparked controversy over the setting of exclusive charging times for NIO owners at seven supercharging stations, including the Sailimhu service area, where NIO is one of the few or even the only superchargers open to the public. Although these superchargers set charging time slots to give priority to the owners of their own brands, they also improved the travel experience of NIO car owners, reflecting the unique happiness of NIO car owners, and becoming a major embodiment of NIO's brand power.
The same phenomenon is also reflected in Tesla, where the peak charging power of Tesla V3 Supercharge can only be achieved on Tesla models.
Focusing on the cooperation between Mercedes-Benz and BMW, the two companies also said in the announcement that although the joint venture's charging network will be open to the public, customers of the BMW Group and Mercedes-Benz Group can enjoy exclusive and exclusive services, such as plug and charge, online appointment and other seamless digital charging experience.
This exclusive service is an enhancement of the brand's consumer experience. Lang Xuehong, deputy secretary-general of the China Automobile Dealers Association, analyzed: "The layout of charging piles by Mercedes-Benz and BMW is mainly to improve the travel service experience of luxury cars and meet the service standards of luxury cars. ”
Self-built piles have become an inevitable choice, but the construction of charging network is a heavy asset, slow return investment, Mercedes-Benz and BMW joint layout will also play a role in reducing costs and accelerating the return on investment.
Some industry insiders estimate that the total investment cost of an ordinary charging station is about 1 million yuan, and the charging efficiency of the super charging station is faster, and the cost of investment will naturally be greater than that of ordinary charging stations.
Mercedes-Benz and BMW working together to lay out a charging network can save both parties the cost of building and operating the charging network. In this regard, Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the passenger association, said that the construction period of the entire charging infrastructure system is long, and the standards for charging luxury cars in Germany are relatively unified, and the joint layout is more efficient, and the cost can be shared.
At present, the development of new energy vehicles in China is in full swing, and from January to October, the production and sales of new energy vehicles have completed a total of 73520,000 and 7.28 million units, an increase of 339% and 378%, with the increase of the new energy vehicle market, the independent brand overtook in the corner, and the market share reached 553%。
In the new energy vehicle market, Mercedes-Benz BMW urgently needs to achieve greater success in the new energy market, and the two sides have established a joint venture to build an energy supplement network, which can be said to be a new way to deal with the involution of the domestic auto market. For both partners, this approach will help them expand their territory in China's new energy vehicle market faster.