On July 18, BMW Group announced the signing of a cooperation agreement between BMW Brilliance Automotive and Nanjing’s Jianye District to establish BMW (Nanjing) Information Technology Co., Ltd. The new subsidiary, fully owned by BMW Brilliance, will operate independently and serve as one of BMW’s six global IT R&D centers—and the largest in Asia. It will provide digital technology support for BMW’s global operations and accelerate the local development and production of BMW’s upcoming Neue Klasse models.
The Nanjing subsidiary evolved from the local branch of Lingyue Digital Information Technology, founded in 2021, which has been central to BMW’s digital innovation in China. With this upgrade, it becomes a cornerstone of BMW’s global IT and digitalization strategy.
The move reflects BMW’s growing reliance on China as both a key market and innovation hub. In April 2024, the company announced a RMB 20 billion investment in its Shenyang production base to prepare for local production of Neue Klasse models in 2026, following an earlier RMB 10 billion investment in battery production capacity.
BMW executives highlighted that Nanjing’s strong IT talent base and supportive business environment made it a natural choice. “The new company strengthens our digital core capabilities in China and will drive innovation at China speed,” said BMW Brilliance CEO Dr. Franz Decker.
Meanwhile, BMW is expanding partnerships with Chinese tech leaders including Huawei, Momenta, Alibaba, and DeepSeek, to integrate advanced AI, digital services, and intelligent driving into future models.
In H1 2025, BMW Group sold 1.207 million vehicles globally (-0.5% YoY). EV sales rose to 161,500 units (+10.2% YoY), while battery-electric sales reached 220,500 units (+15.7% YoY). Regional growth was strong in Europe and the Americas, though sales in Asia declined 11.1% year-on-year.
