[Beijing, August 8, 2024] On this day, BBAC celebrates its 19th anniversary, commemorating 19 years of hard work that have made sustainable, stable growth in production and operation a reality. Improved comprehensive strength and an increasingly empowered talent base have all combined to drive BBAC's integrated development of comprehensive strength and accelerate the pace of high-quality development towards “electrification, digitalization, and low carbonization”.

“Our latest achievements in production, alongside our modified corporate strategy and renewal of our company values, have been truly inspiring,” Jörg Bartels, President & CEO of BBAC said. “Upholding the philosophy of ‘Made in China, for China’, the whole BBAC team is proud to produce the desirable Mercedes-Benz products for our valued customers every day. In the days to come, we will increasingly leverage the strength of our flexible supply chain and production, harnessing business excellence to accelerate our transformation towards ‘electrification, digitalization and low carbonization’!”

“In the first half of 2024, BBAC faced an accelerated transformation and upgrading of the automobile industry,” said Zhang Zhengye, Party Secretary and Senior Executive Vice President of BBAC. “Confronted by challenges, we overcame each one, reaching the milestone of five million produced engines and vehicles. Going forward, we will keep our noses to the grindstone, as we innovate, and respond to market changes with agility, in pursuit of higher quality development!”

Digital Technologies Drive the Continuous Improvement of Intelligent Manufacturing

BBAC has spent the last 19 years exploring the path of digitalization and promoting the comprehensive application of Mercedes-Benz' MO360 digital production ecosystem for passenger vehicles to make the entire process of managing R&D, logistics, production, quality control, and technical maintenance more intelligent.

BBAC has been applying AI in numerous manufacturing scenarios since 2021. Several workshops have already been equipped with collaborative robots integrating machine vision and AI to accurately identify, measure, position, and inspect products and parts through the digital production management system, allowing more fully flexible production of electric, hybrid, and fuel vehicles on the same line, and further ensuring outstanding product quality.

BBAC is working towards a full Digital Twin of the production process for the ramp-up of the all-new Mercedes-Benz carlines, simulating production lines, machines and supply routes for new models in advance. Relying on a“Digital First”approach, these technologies enhance the resilience and intelligence of BBAC's production system, making it possible to flexibly meet market demand for different models.

Sustainable Development

While improving the intelligence of its manufacturing, BBAC has always been guided by the environmental protection concept of “adhering to the realization of sustainable manufacturing and taking the road of sustainable development”, focusing on manufacturing and supply chain management, and practicing sustainable and low-carbon development.

Research carried out recently by BBAC in conjunction with Tsinghua University on carbon management in logistics and transportation has achieved new results, with the two sides developing a carbon emission accounting system for the logistics and transportation of parts. Successfully monitoring, tracing, and accurately accounting for key carbon emission indicators and carbon emission data for parts and vehicle transportation in real time, the results of this collaboration have laid a solid foundation for how data can be applied to reduce carbon in the industrial chain and product life cycle.

BBAC continues to explore zero emissions in production, planning and building sustainable plants and working with suppliers on a forward-looking zero-carbon technology laboratory. Its sustainable, low-carbon demonstration laboratory integrates advanced eco-friendly technologies, incorporating rooftop solar power, the breeze power generation system, molten salt thermal storage, and CO₂ heat pumps to integrate source, network, load, and storage. Following its official 2024 commissioning, the laboratory will provide facilities and technical demonstrations for the green and low-carbon transformation of the automotive industry.

Corporate Cultural Empowerment Bringing Up Talent to Transform and Develop

As the automotive industry undergoes a transformation unlike anything seen in a century, BBAC has responded by recently updating its corporate goal, strategy, and core values. By including “Agility” in its corporate culture, BBAC hopes to underline the importance of integrating manufacturing strengths with flexible and efficient production on the path to strategic “electrification, digitalization, and low carbonization”.

At present, BBAC employs more than 5,400 highly skilled personnel, as well as several hundred high-tech personnel involved in quality management, electrification, and digitalization. While giving full play to talent training platforms, BBAC seeks to deepen cooperation with leading Chinese top-notch universities, relying on the strength of “network flexibility” to promote the deeper cooperation and exchange within Mercedes-Benz' global production network, accelerating the creation of the talented team of tomorrow in the service of the enterprise's transformation and development.

BBAC's intelligent and sustainable manufacturing achievements are the result of 19 years of unremitting effort and the strategic guidance of Mercedes-Benz and BAIC Group, while having benefited from a corporate culture that facilitates the empowerment and transformation of both talent and the enterprise itself. In this way, BBAC injects momentum into the high-quality development of Beijing's automotive industry as it strives to build high-quality products for customers in China!