Shanghai (ZXZC)- German luxury vehicle brand BMW officially opened a R&D center in Beijing on May 15. This is the third BMW's R&D center in China, also the company's largest R&D center aside from its German headquarter.

BMW currently owns three R&D centers in China, including the Beijing center, the Shanghai center and the Shenyang center. Based on a clear division of roles and responsibilities, the Beijing center will be responsible for the strategies formulation, consumer demands’ management, vehicle testing and verification as well as the product localization R&D. Shanghai center is mainly in charge of the technological innovation, innovative design research and the application of digitalization. Moreover, the Shenyang center, in the vicinity of a power battery center, focuses on NEV (new energy vehicles) development, production vehicle qualification control, etc.

Reportedly, the Beijing R&D center, covering an area of over 26,000 square meters, involves an investment of RMB 200 million in total. It will be dedicated to the verification and on-line diagnosis of whole series of BMW's models, including NEVs, hybrid vehicles, intelligent vehicles and the next-generation high-efficiency engines, and the R&D of core parts in NEV and self-driving area. 

On May 14, BMW obtained two license plates for the ICV (intelligent-connected vehicle) road test from Shanghai municipal government, becoming the first multinational automaker that is allowed to test ICV on roads, according to official WeChat account of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information.