BMW In Talks With Great Wall To Manufacture MINI Vehicles In China

At the present moment, MINI operates a production plant in Cowley, UK, with a remainder of production attributed to VDL Nedcar in Born, Netherlands. In the coming years, however, the BMW-owned British automaker might expand outside of Europe thanks to the helping hand of Great Wall.

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Reports in the Chinese media suggest BMW is in early talks with Great Wall to create a joint stock company incorporated in the People’s Republic with limited liability. In a statement released on behalf by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Great Wall has confirmed the talks, providing clarifications.

From the statement: “As of the date of this announcement, the Company and BMW have not entered into any legal documents for the establishment of a joint venture in China.” There’s no deal on the table just yet, but the offer is too good for BMW and Great Wall to take a step back. “Both parties entered into a confidential agreement on 18 April 2016 for the feasibility of research and development of battery electric vehicles and traditional power vehicles.”

Upon discussion, BMW and Great Wall signed an agreement on February 21, 2017, “for discussion and evaluation on the feasibility of cooperation for vehicles of MINI brand.” It’s extremely clear, then, that intentions are strong from both parties. But until the two automakers agree to create a joint venture in China, there’s still a whole lot of talk and feasibility evaluation to be done.

BMW is already present in China with the help of Brilliance, an alliance that started in 2003 and is responsible for the local production of the 1 Series, 2 Series Active Tourer, 3er, 5er, and X1. Great Wall, on the other hand, doesn’t have any joint venture to speak of at the present moment. The Haval sport utility vehicle brand sold better than the rest of the Great Wall lineup in 2016, but a joint venture has the potential to be a more lucrative business.

When rumors emerged of the MINI-Great Wall potential tie-up on Wednesday, October 11, shares of the Chinese automaker jumped 13 percent, then were suspended from trading on Thursday. Shares have resumed trading on Monday, 16 October.

Download attachment: MINI-Great Wall joint venture statement (PDF)

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