AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)03/05 Report--

On March 5, Beijing Yi'an Qi New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and BMW, officially settled in Chaoyang, Beijing, and the two sides will further expand the layout of super charging network in the Chinese market. to meet the growing demand for charging services from domestic customers.

Mercedes-Benz (China) Investment Co., Ltd. and brilliance BMW Co., Ltd. announced on November 30, 2023 that they will form a joint venture in China with a share ratio of 50:50 to operate a supercharging network in the Chinese market. On February 4, 2024, the new joint venture between Mercedes-Benz (China) Investment Co., Ltd. and brilliance BMW Motor Co., Ltd. was unconditionally approved by the State Administration of Market Supervision and Administration.

It is understood that the charging network of the Mercedes-Benz-BMW joint venture will be open to the public, and customers of Mercedes-Benz and BMW will enjoy exclusive premium services, including seamless digital charging experiences such as plug-and-play charging and online booking. According to the plan, the Mercedes-Benz-BMW joint venture plans 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 follow-up 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.

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.

As another member of the BBA camp, some netizens said "without Audi to play". In fact, Audi is not alone. The Volkswagen Group behind it established Kaimes New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. as early as 2019 as a joint venture with China FAW, Jiangqi Group and Wanbang Digital Energy Co., Ltd., not only started earlier, but also one of the earliest companies in the industry to launch a 480kW ultra-fast charging solution.

For BMW-Mercedes-Benz cooperation, industry insiders close to Audi China said that Audi-branded charging stations will also have new actions next year, with the goal of building 600 charging piles by the end of this year. "the construction of Audi-branded charging stations is more intended to achieve value-added service and experience."

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