The five millionth vehicle was only celebrated in China in February 2023. After just 15 months, a new production milestone can already be celebrated. One million cars in 15 months - that's an average of over 15,000 cars per week. This is about the same as the capacity of Tesla's Shanghai factory, which is estimated at around 950,000 units per year, or around 18,000 cars per week.
The BMW i5 unit celebrating the milestone has undergone rigorous quality controls. An automatic surface inspection (AOI) system is used in the paint shop. This involves taking over 100,000 photos of each individual car. Artificial intelligence then identifies impurities, fibers, scratches and other minor defects in the paintwork. Anomalies are laser marked and then repaired.
In parallel with the high production of vehicles, BBA is already preparing for the production of the Neue Klasse. The plant in Shenyang is set to produce the first vehicles based on the new platform from 2026. This makes the Chinese factory one of four locations worldwide that will produce the Neue Klasse - alongside Debrezen (Hungary, from 2025 ), Munich (from 2026) and San Luis Potosí (Mexico, from 2027). Spartanburg in the US is likely to be the fifth factory, as a battery assembly facility for the New Class is also being built there.
Source: BMW
