Spotlight, BMW’s China venture, to assemble EVs including Mini cars for consumers worldwide

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Except for markets that levy unreasonably high tariffs on Chinese-made EVs, Spotlight is designing and building cars for customers all over the world, Director Jason Zhang says

China’s strong EV supply chain and design heft in the EV sector have inspired global carmakers to look beyond the local market: Zhejiang-based entrepreneur

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The Mini Aceman concept is unveiled at Auto Shanghai in this file photo from April 2023. BMW said in 2022 that the Aceman would be one of the two Mini models to be assembled in Zhangjiagang. Photo: Reuters

Daniel Renin Shanghai

Published: 8:30pm, 12 Apr 2024Updated: 3:03pm, 25 Sep 2024

Spotlight Automotive, BMW’s 50-50 electric vehicle (EV) venture with mainland Chinese partner Great Wall Motor, is designing new models that it hopes to sell globally.

Cars including models under BMW-owned brand Mini will be sold in markets such as Europe and Southeast Asia after Spotlight starts assembling them in China’s eastern Jiangsu province later this year, Jason Zhang, director of governance and public relations at the EV venture, told the Post on Friday.

“Except for markets that levy unreasonably high tariffs [on Chinese-made EVs], Spotlight is designing and building cars for customers all over the world,” Zhang said on the sidelines of an investment promotion event in Shanghai. “We have the vision of building cars that cater to demand from people worldwide.”

Spotlight was founded in 2019, with BMW and Great Wall, China’s largest sport-utility vehicle maker, each contributing equally towards a total investment of 5.1 billion yuan (US$704.7 million). The company owns a factory in Jiangsu province’s Zhangjiagang city that is capable of assembling 160,000 vehicles a year, and a research and development centre in Shanghai that employs about 300 engineers.

Concerns about overcapacity have prompted mainland-based EV makers to boost their overseas sales, said Qian Kang, a Zhejiang-based entrepreneur who owns car components businesses.

“Foreign carmakers’ Chinese ventures used to focus on just the mainland China market, because it is big enough to accommodate their production capabilities,” he said. However, “China’s strong EV supply chain and its design heft in the EV sector have inspired global marques to look beyond the local market”.