AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)03/03 Report--

On January 24, the European Commission announced that it had approved the establishment of a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz (China) and brilliance BMW under EU merger regulations. The deal mainly involves the network market of public charging infrastructure for battery-powered vehicles in China. The European Commission concluded that, given the limited impact on the European Economic area, the deal would not raise competition issues.

Mercedes-Benz (China) Investment Co., Ltd. and brilliance BMW Co., Ltd. announced the signing of a cooperation agreement on November 30, 2023. The two sides will set up a joint venture in China with a share ratio of 50:50 to operate a supercharging network in the Chinese market. It is planned to build at least 1000 advanced technology supercharging stations and about 7000 supercharging piles in China by the end of 2026. The first batch of charging stations are scheduled to start operation in China's key new energy vehicle cities from 2024, and the subsequent construction of charging stations will also cover other cities and regions of the country. In addition, the joint venture will purchase renewable energy power if conditions permit, and provide exclusive services such as plug-and-play charging and online booking to customers of Mercedes-Benz and BMW to provide Chinese customers with a sustainable luxury charging experience.

With the rapid development of the global new energy vehicle market, the popularity of new energy vehicles is getting higher and higher, and consumers' demand for charging facilities is also increasing. Against this background, Mercedes-Benz and BMW decided to join hands to build a supercharging network in the Chinese market. This cooperation has aroused widespread concern in the industry.

The industry believes that Mercedes-Benz-BMW cooperation is also a historical necessity. With the rapid development of new energy vehicles, the importance of overcharging network as infrastructure has become increasingly prominent. The lack of charging facilities has become one of the key factors restricting the further popularity of new energy vehicles. Therefore, the construction of an extensive, efficient and convenient overcharging network has become an urgent need for the development of the new energy vehicle industry, which can improve consumer acceptance of new energy vehicles, thus promoting the further expansion of the new energy vehicle market.

BMW and Mercedes-Benz have formed a joint venture to operate a supercharging network in the Chinese market. In the face of such fierce domestic competition in the new energy market, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, as well-known global automakers, are developing particularly slowly in the field of new energy vehicles. Seeing the continuous cooperation among other brands, they naturally do not want to miss this big cake. In order to cope with this pressure, Mercedes-Benz and BMW choose to join hands to confront the challenges of Chinese cars. In addition, the construction of overcharging network is indeed an industry with huge investment, long construction time and slow return on investment, and it is not a wise choice to fight alone. Previously, Geely, Changan, Jianghuai, Chery and Xilai Automobile reached power exchange cooperation. The same is true. Through cooperation, the two companies can share resources, reduce costs and speed up the construction process of overcharging network.

Of course, cooperation between Mercedes-Benz and BMW is not easy. There are great differences in products and technologies between the two companies, as well as differences in corporate culture and management concepts, which may lead to friction and conflicts between the two sides in the process of cooperation. this requires effective communication and coordination between the two sides in the process of cooperation, but in the long run, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, if a global overcharging network can be established. And the realization of standardization and standardization is of far-reaching significance to China's electric vehicle industry.

Mercedes-Benz and BMW are both luxury brands and first-tier luxury brands, and the Chinese market is the world's largest single market. In 2023, BMW delivered 2.555 million new cars to customers worldwide, an increase of 6.5 per cent year-on-year. Among them, BMW Group delivered 825000 new cars in the Chinese market, an increase of 4.2 per cent over the same period last year. Mercedes-Benz delivered 2.492 million vehicles, up 1.5 per cent from a year earlier, of which 765000 were delivered in the Chinese market, up 2.7 per cent from a year earlier.

In the new track of new energy vehicles, BMW and this market have changed from the leader of the original fuel vehicle market to the pursuer of the new track. Under the weakening brand effect, it is difficult to show the advantages of its luxury cars. Of course, for BMW and Mercedes-Benz, they still have the opportunity to take the lead in the electric and intelligent era of automobiles. After all, their accumulated experience in the automotive field is unmatched by other automobile companies, but at the moment when the new energy vehicle market is becoming more and more popular, whether the traditional luxury brand can successfully achieve its strategic goal of electrified transformation remains to be verified by the market.

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat