The Dadong plant from BMW Brilliance Automotive in Shenyang, China, has exceeded a large milestone of production. On August 21, the factory pursued 3.5 million vehicles that have been built since the opening in 2003. The milestone fell together with another number: more than 2 million units of the BMW 5 series have now been produced locally. The 5 Series is still one of the strongest models from BMW in China, where it leads the Premium sedan segment. The Landmark Car was a 5 Shadow Edition with the nickname “Black Warrior”.
Plant Dadong was BMW’s first production facility in China and has grown steadily in the past two decades. Today it produces the BMW 5 series Langwallenbase, X3 and X5 long-wall base for the Chinese market. It is also the only factory worldwide that builds the full electrical BMW IX3 for global export. The system was improved in 2022 with extensive digital and automated systems. A platform called AI Quality next uses cameras and AI analyzes at more than 30 production stations to monitor assembly in real time and possible defects.
Painting is a special focus. Each 5 is scanned with over 100,000 pictures to check the light and the shadow on the body surface before childbirth. The system continues to analyze data outside of working hours to improve accuracy.
Market pressure
The performance comes when BMW is exposed to a harder environment in China. In 2024, BMW Brilliance’s turnover fell by 15 percent to 603,800 vehicles, while exports decreased by more than a third. The increasing competition by domestic EV manufacturers and the weaker demand for combustion models are key factors. BMW recently appointed Birgit Böhm-Wannenwetsch on August 1st as CEO from BMW Brilliance. Together with Plant Tiexi, the Shenyang production center is on the right track in order to achieve a combined performance of 5 million vehicles later this year.
Both plants are part of the IFACTORY plan from BMW, which emphasizes the lean, green and digitized production. Dadong is now able to generate combustion, hybrid and full electric vehicles on the same line, which changes flexibility in terms of the Chinese market.
