BMW to boost battery production in China with new investment

BMW has announced plans to expand its battery production capacity in Shenyang, the capital of China's Liaoning province. 

According to the South China Morning Post, the $1.4 bn (CNY10bn) investment will expand the Lydia plant, which produces high-performance batteries for its i3 and iX3 series electric vehicles (EVs). 

The plans for the Lydia plant followed the announcement of CEO Oliver Zipse, who revealed BMW's ambitions to hasten up the electrification process and turn every one out of three manufactured vehicles in Bavaria to all-electric. 

BMW surely wants to grab a larger market share in China, as the price cut of Tesla has stirred competition between local and foreign EV makers in the market. According to a Canalys report, 57% of EVs were sold in China in the first half of 2022.

BMW announced in June that it began production at the Lydia plant. Lydia represented the third manufacturing facility of BMW in China and is expected to increase the annual production capacity from 700,000 to 830,000 units.

Image: BMW