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Recently, domestic media exposed a document showing that the domestic electric MINI produced by Beamlight will be officially offline on December 21, meaning the new car will be closer to mass production and launch. According to the content, the beam project department will carry out the KNT test of the BMW Mini three-door model, while the first KNT vehicle will be offline on December 21. It is understood that the new car is expected to be based on the overseas listing of MINI COOPER SE, and will compete with smart Genie # 1 in the future.

At present, the spy photos of the new car have been exposed. In terms of appearance, the new car retains round headlights and oval front grille as a whole, but it is replaced with a closed design, which not only shows its identity, but also improves its own recognition. On the side, the new car is still a classic two-door design, and it does not cancel the two-door version as directly as the smart. On the rear side, the new car will be equipped with a new style of taillight design, and will have two different styles of taillight design, one of which is a fan-shaped taillight design, with a through black strip in the center and the words "COOPER S" printed on it.

In terms of interior decoration, the overall layout is relatively close to the MINI Concept Aceman concept car, which is equipped with a large-size suspended circular central control screen with a HUD look-up display in front of the main driver, which still has a good sense of science and technology. In addition, like the button area at the bottom of the central control screen, it also uses circular design elements, which still has a certain inheritance with the current model.

Data show that Light Beam Automobile Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Beam Automobile") was established on December 27th, 2019, the registered address is Zhangjiagang Economic and technological Development Zone, Zhangjiagang City, Jiangsu Province, and the legal representative is Zhao Guoqing, deputy general manager and vice chairman of Great Wall Motors. The registered capital is 1.7 billion yuan, and the business period is from December 27, 2019 to December 26, 2034. Equity penetration shows that Great Wall Motor Co., Ltd. and BMW (Holland) Holdings each own 50% of the joint venture, of which BMW (Holland) Holdings is the actual controller.

Beam Automobile is the first joint venture project of Great Wall Motor, and it is also the first pure electric vehicle joint venture project of BMW in Germany. The cooperation mode of the two sides adopts the mode of "joint venture without joint venture" for the first time, that is, to jointly develop and produce automobiles. However, the products will be sold in the respective service networks of BMW Group and Great Wall Motor respectively by brand.

Harald Kr ü ger, chairman of BMW Group, said: "this strategic partnership is a clear win-win choice for BMW Group and Great Wall Motor, which will enable us to contribute to China's ambitious plan to develop new energy vehicles and reduce traffic emissions." In contrast, Great Wall Chairman Wei Jianjun's expression revealed a little helplessness, he said frankly: "in the past, Great Wall does not want a joint venture, but it is not our turn to joint venture." Great Wall and BMW are in free love. They talked about cooperation together two years ago. The signing of the contract is a real engagement. "

Industry insiders believe that the marriage of Great Wall and BMW is not simply for pure electric vehicles, but hopes to learn from BMW, including not limited to new energy, traditional internal combustion engines, chassis and powertrain, self-driving and intelligent, technology and standards, testing and calibration, development process and management, international market operation.

However, the progress of the beam car has been particularly slow, and the later smart, the first all-electric model, has been mass-produced and launched in China. On December 27, 2019, Zhi Motor Motor Co., Ltd., jointly funded by Geely Automobile Group Co., Ltd. and Mercedes-Benz Co., Ltd., was established with a registered capital of 5.4 billion yuan. The two shareholders will jointly operate and promote the transformation of the smart brand around the world, with a view to turning smart into a high-end electric smart car brand, officials said. On June 6, 2022, smart Spirit # 1 officially launched, the new car is based on Geely's vast SEA architecture, the Mercedes-Benz design department is responsible for styling design, Geely is responsible for vehicle research and development, positioning as pure electric small SUV, the price is 18.16-232400 yuan, there are single-motor rear drive, dual-motor all-wheel drive two kinds of power, and 500km, 535km, 600km three kinds of life options.

Not surprisingly, after the launch of the first model of Beamlight, it will be aimed directly at smart Genie # 1. In fact, both MINI and smart are niche brands in China, but the smart Genie # 1 produced by Geely and Mercedes-Benz is different from the smart models sold overseas. From the perspective of positioning, the MINI brand and the smart brand are similar, and after the two brands set out in the new electrified field, they cooperate with Great Wall and Geely respectively. Can the success of smart Genie # 1 be replicated by Beamcar?

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