Recently, Beijing Automotive Co., LTD. (hereinafter referred to as "BAIC") and the Goyang City Government of South Korea officially signed a memorandum of understanding, announcing that it will invest about 2 million square meters of land and about 4 trillion won (about 21.6 billion yuan) in the Goyang Free Economic Zone to build large-scale electric vehicle production facilities.
It is reported that the plant will have an annual capacity of 200,000 electric vehicles, and plans to export 90 percent of the production to markets outside of South Korea. The Goyang City government has shown great enthusiasm and expectations for this cooperation, and plans to send a delegation to visit BAIC China headquarters next month to further deepen cooperation and understanding between the two sides.
Since its establishment in 2010, BAIC, as a platform for the aggregation of passenger vehicle resources and business development of Beijing Automotive Group Co., LTD., has been committed to the comprehensive development of passenger vehicle R&D, manufacturing, sales and after-sales service, as well as the production of core passenger car parts and auto finance. The group owns a number of well-known brands such as Polar Fox Automobile, Beijing Automobile, Beijing Benz, Beijing Hyundai and Beiqi Foton, covering a wide range of product lines from economy to luxury, from traditional fuel vehicles to new energy vehicles. These brands have achieved good results in the market, providing strong support for the sustainable development of BAIC shares.
According to the 2023 annual report card released by BAIC Group, the company achieved vehicle sales of more than 1.708 million units throughout the year, an increase of 17.6%, and its operating income reached 480.3 billion yuan. Among them, the sales volume of autonomous passenger cars reached 190,000, an increase of 69.1%. Autonomous commercial vehicles sold 634,000 units, up 36.7% year on year; Export sales reached 190,000 units, up 73.5% year on year.
The growth of these figures not only reflects BAIC's strong performance in the domestic market, but also reflects its active expansion in the international market. At present, BAIC's business scope has covered Southeast Asia, Central and West Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Central and South America and Europe and other countries and regions, further enhancing its brand influence in the world.
In October last year, BAIC New Energy made significant progress in international cooperation, and successively reached a cooperation consensus with TURING Company of Japan and Ben Omir Holding Group Co., LTD of the United Arab Emirates. The core content of these cooperation is that the two sides will jointly upgrade and improve intelligent technology for BAIC polar Fox models, and carry out in-depth cooperation in marketing.
In December of the same year, Beijing Automotive successfully introduced its X3, Rubik's Cube and new X7 models to the Polish market, and held a grand BAIC brand and new car launch event in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. The landing of the Polish market marks the further expansion and deepening of Beijing Automobile in the European market. After Spain and Belgium, Poland has become another important market for Beijing Automotive in Europe, showing the company's strong growth momentum and extensive layout in the European market.
In March this year, BAIC went to sea again, and its Beijing Blue Valley Polar Fox Automobile Technology Co., Ltd. signed a cooperation agreement with SERTELSA SOLAR and Qingdao Tangbai Import and Export Co., Ltd. of the Dominican Republic, officially entering the Latin American market.
The decision to build an electric vehicle production facility in Goyang is an important part of the company's globalization strategy. By investing in the construction of large-scale factories, it can not only improve the company's production capacity and efficiency, but also further strengthen the connection with the international market and promote the rapid development of the company's business. At the same time, the company will continue to increase investment in research and development, and constantly improve product quality and technical level to meet the needs of global consumers.
Baic's move to build an electric vehicle production facility in South Korea has far-reaching strategic significance. On the one hand, as one of the important bases of the global automobile manufacturing industry, South Korea has a complete industrial chain and advanced manufacturing technology, which can provide strong support for BAIC. On the other hand, the South Korean market itself also has huge potential, by building a plant here and exporting products, BAIC will be able to better meet the needs of the local market and further enhance the influence of the brand.