According to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, on March 4, Mercedes-Benz (hereinafter referred to as "Mercedes-Benz") and BMW jointly established Beijing Yi'an Qi New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the "joint venture company") officially settled in Chaoyang District, Beijing, and will operate a supercharging network in the Chinese market.
The new joint venture stems from a partnership between Mercedes-Benz and BMW in 2023. On November 30, 2023, Mercedes-Benz (China) Investment*** and BMW Brilliance Automotive*** announced the signing of a cooperation agreement to establish a joint venture in China to operate a supercharging network in the Chinese market.
Specifically, the joint venture will leverage Mercedes-Benz and BMW's charging operation experience in the global and Chinese markets, as well as their understanding of the new energy vehicle industry, to provide exclusive services such as plug and charge and online appointment to customers of the Mercedes-Benz Group and BMW Group. At the same time, the company's charging network will also be open to the public.
Join forces
In the Chinese market, the joint venture is one of the few important cooperation achievements of Mercedes-Benz and BMW, two first-tier luxury car companies, in recent years.
Tianyancha industrial and commercial information shows that Beijing Yi'an Qi New Energy Technology was established on March 4, 2024, with a registered capital of 100 million yuan, and the legal representative is Wu Si. Mercedes-Benz said that in the new joint venture, the two sides will have a 50:50 equity ratio. In terms of business, the joint venture is mainly engaged in the research and development of emerging energy technologies, the operation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and centralized fast charging stations.
Regarding the cooperation between the two parties to operate the charging network, BMW told Times Finance: "BMW and Mercedes-Benz will use their charging operation experience in the global and Chinese markets and insights into China's new energy vehicle market to tailor fast, convenient and reliable charging solutions for Chinese customers." The two parties hope that this cooperation will further enhance the public charging experience for customers. ”
According to official information, with the joint venture settled in Chaoyang District, Beijing, Mercedes-Benz and BMW will take Beijing Chaoyang as a starting point to further expand the super charging network layout in the Chinese market to meet the growing demand for charging services from domestic customers.
Behind the cooperation is the competitive pressure faced by Mercedes-Benz and BMW in the Chinese market.
According to official data, the BMW Group delivered a total of 824932 BMW and MINI vehicles in the Chinese market in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 42%, ranking first in the luxury car segment. Among them, a total of 99,972 BMW brand pure electric models were delivered throughout the year, a year-on-year increase of more than 138%.
Mercedes-Benz has delivered about 76 percent of its total deliveries in China in 202350,000 new vehicles, an increase of 1 from 20227%；Deliveries of all-electric vehicles doubled throughout the year.
Although overall sales have increased and the performance of electrified models is improving, there is still a significant gap between Mercedes-Benz and BMW compared with the sales of new energy vehicles of independent brands such as BYD, Geely Automobile, and Changan Automobile. In 2023, the above three car companies will sell 3.02 million units and 48.02 million units respectively80,000 units, 4740,000 new energy vehicles.
How to achieve a better electrification transformation has become a top priority for traditional first-tier luxury car companies.
In addition to electrified products, sufficient energy replenishment network is a necessary use scenario for new energy vehicles. An anonymous person in the industry told Times Finance: "The energy supplement network is also one of the keys for new energy vehicle companies to attract consumers, so many car companies are accelerating the layout of the energy supplement network." ”
Taking NIO and Tesla as examples, as of the beginning of March this year, NIO has deployed more than 2,300 battery swap stations, more than 3,700 charging stations, and more than 21,600 charging piles in China. As of January this year, Tesla has also built more than 1,900 supercharging stations and more than 11,000 supercharging piles in the mainland.
The existence of a large number of charging stations and charging piles has significantly improved the travel experience of new energy vehicle owners, and has also become one of the main considerations for potential consumers when buying a car.
In contrast, the cooperative charging network layout of Mercedes-Benz and BMW is slightly later and the scale is slightly smaller.
According to the cooperation information between Mercedes-Benz and BMW, by the end of 2026, the joint venture company plans to build at least 1,000 super charging stations with advanced technology and about 7,000 supercharging piles in China. The first batch of charging stations is scheduled to start operation in China's key NEV cities in 2024, and subsequent charging station construction will cover other cities and regions across the country.
Change?
At the same time as the establishment of the joint venture, a news from Mercedes-Benz brought uncertainty to the cooperation between the two parties.
Mercedes-Benz recently announced at its 2023 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders that it will launch a new lineup of internal combustion engine models by 2027, enabling the internal combustion engine to last until 2030. This is regarded by the industry as Mercedes-Benz's abandonment of the "all-electric" strategic layout.
In this regard, the relevant person in charge of Mercedes-Benz told Times Finance: "Regarding the electrification plan, we will respond more pragmatically and flexibly. Mercedes-Benz said that by 2030, electric vehicle sales will account for 50% of Mercedes-Benz's overall sales, including hybrid products.
At present, in the Chinese market, Mercedes-Benz has a total of 7 pure electric models, 5 plug-in hybrid models, and more than 17 gasoline models. Whether it is the number of products or market sales, fuel models are still the absolute main force of Mercedes-Benz.
Mercedes-Benz first proposed "all-electric" in 2021. At that time, Mercedes-Benz announced that it would accelerate electrification in the next 10 years, shifting from "electric priority" to "full electric". Among them, Mercedes-Benz said that from 2025, all its new models will be from pure electric platforms; By 2030, Mercedes-Benz will be fully electrified in a market where conditions permit.
However, starting in 2023, Mercedes-Benz has begun to emphasize the "dual line of oil and electricity". Setting the tone for the company's growth in 2024, Ola K Lenius, chairman of the board of directors and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, said the company would adopt a flexible strategy to cope with the "peaks and valleys" of the transition to electric vehicles.
As for whether the changes in the company's strategy will affect the cooperation between Mercedes-Benz and BMW in the Chinese market, Times Finance contacted Mercedes-Benz to understand the specific situation. Mercedes-Benz said that the joint venture company has obtained a business license and will start operations in the near future, and the headquarters of the joint venture company is set up in Beijing. "More information should be announced later, when the time is right. ”
In overseas markets, Mercedes-Benz and BMW have cooperated many times, including cooperating on driving models and sharing autonomous driving technology. Times Finance learned from Mercedes-Benz insiders that this is also the first cooperation between the two sides in the domestic market in the past three years.
In the eyes of industry insiders, the two sides work together to lay out the charging network, highlighting the importance they attach to China's new energy vehicle market.
In 2023, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China's automobile market will be close to 35%, and the monthly penetration rate is expected to reach 50% this year. The new energy vehicle market has huge room for growth. "This means that in the Chinese market, Mercedes-Benz and BMW's electrified models have broad development prospects," the analyst said. ”