BMW Brilliance steps up sustainability pace during pandemic

The BMW Brilliance Sustainability Report 2019 is the seventh annual report of its kind by the joint venture between Germany's BMW and China's Brilliance Auto. It revealed that the automaker ranked first in the 2019 Automotive Enterprise Green Development Index in China. The index is released by Automotive Data of China.

By the end of 2019, the joint venture used 100 percent renewable electricity in its Shenyang production base, with efforts paid in generating solar power, purchasing wind power and International Renewable Electricity Certificates.

The I-RECs are a market-based instrument to integrate renewable energy into a global sustainability strategy. Companies can buy I-RECs to document and report that the energy they consume comes from renewable sources.

"The (COVID-19) pandemic carries a clear message－we need to change the way we live and the way we see the world," said Johann Wieland, president and CEO of BMW Brilliance Automotive, at the release event.

"We cannot always solve tomorrow's problems with yesterday's concepts. The pandemic makes us more mindful, it increases our conscious awareness. It makes us rethink the purpose and meaning of a business."

To be better prepared for unpredictable challenges, BMW Brilliance will stick to green, low-carbon and sustainable development to create long-term economic and social benefits, Wieland added.

With efforts to improve its new-energy vehicle technologies and manufacture safer and more environmentally friendly products, BMW Brilliance reduced its average fuel consumption to 5.79 liters per 100 kilometers in 2019. The average carbon dioxide emissions from the automaker's new cars fell to 137.8 grams/km last year.

In 2019, BMW Brilliance sold 32,246 new energy vehicles, which is 16 times that of 2017.

Despite the effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic, in the first half of 2020, BMW saw sales of new energy vehicles in China rise by 49.1 percent from the same period of 2019.

As of the end of 2019, BMW's charging network had expanded to cover more than 200 cities in China, with more than 130,000 charging pillars.

The number of BMW's new energy vehicle dealers nationwide has increased to 450 from 336 in 2018. It has achieved full coverage of all the first-and second-tier cities in China.

This year, BMW Brilliance is working on completing its new energy vehicle "ecosystem". The second phase of BMW Brilliance's power battery plant is to enter production and the electric iX3 SUV will be produced in Shenyang, Liaoning province, and sold globally.

"We believe that a business has a higher purpose than just achieving profit. This is why sustainability has been a core part of our strategy for 10 years. And our sustainable philosophy balances society, the economy and the environment," said Wieland.

BMW Brilliance has been the largest contributor to Shenyang's tax revenue for 15 consecutive years and the largest taxpayer company in Liaoning province for four consecutive years.

The automaker pays attention to cultivating local employees, with 85.5 percent of its management personnel from China. Eighty-two percent of its 19,824 staff members are from Liaoning province.

Adhering to its strategy of "In China, For China and For the World", BMW Brilliance also attaches great significance to its corporate social responsibility.

The joint venture has initiated a series of corporate social responsibility programs, which are the BMW China Culture Journey, the BMW Children's Traffic Safety Education and the BMW JOY Home, as part of its efforts to give back to society.

In 2019, the number of beneficiaries of BMW corporate social responsibility programs totaled nearly 2.63 million, according to the automaker.