Shanghai (ZXZC)- On Friday, Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor announced that it has signed a letter of intent with BMW Group to set up a possible joint venture for new energy vehicle (NEV) business and technologies.

BMW said in a separate statement that “Next steps will be to agree on the details of a possible joint venture and cooperation agreement and clarify aspects such as the choice of production location and concrete investments”.

Both parties will carry out further discussion on the cooperation mode and decide which models will be jointly produced. In the future, the joint venture will focus on the development, procurement, production and other businesses in NEV segment.

After signing the letter of intent, the automakers will decide the investment scale, set up business mode and finish the feasibility study. And the companies will start to discuss the joint venture cooperation details soon.

The Chinese automaker said in its announcement that the cooperation will help to improve its technology level and brand premium ability, meet consumers’ demands and expand the NEV market shares at home and abroad.

In 2017, many China local automakers and foreign automakers entered into joint venture cooperation in China, such as JAC and VW, Zotye and Ford, Dongfeng and Renault-Nissan.