BMW Group makes sustainability and efficient resource management central to its strategic direction
- Board of Management and executive management will be measured
against new sustainability targets - First-ever CO2 goals for full lifecycle up to 2030
- Science-Based Targets form basis for new goals
- Far-reaching product strategy: Major CO2 reduction with more than
seven million electrified vehicles - Carbon emissions from production and sites to be lowered by 80%
per vehicle - BMW Group aims for most sustainable supply chain industry wide
- Circular economy as vision for resource management
- Zipse: “Sustainability and premium will be inextricably linked in
the future”
Munich. The BMW Group is making sustainability and
resource efficiency central to the company’s strategic direction.
Chairman of the Board of Management Oliver Zipse announced initial
details of this strategic direction in Munich today and presented the
targets the company has set itself for the phase up to 2030. The BMW
Group is building on a strong foundation: Over the past years and
decades, the company has repeatedly set standards in terms of
sustainability. The principle of continuous improvement will remain at
the heart of the strategy to reduce CO2 emissions and increase
resource efficiency.
“I firmly believe the fight against climate change and how we use
resources will decide the future of our society – and of the BMW
Group. As a premium car company, it is our ambition to lead the way in
sustainability. That is why we are taking responsibility here and now
and making these issues central to our future strategic direction,”
said Oliver Zipse. “This new strategic direction will
be anchored in all divisions – from administration and purchasing to
development and production, all the way to sales. We are taking
sustainability to the next level.”
As part of this process, the BMW Group is setting itself clear
targets for CO2 reduction up to 2030. For the first time, these extend
throughout the entire lifecycle: from the supply chain through
production to the end of the use phase. The aim is to significantly
reduce CO2 emissions per vehicle by at least one
third across the entire spectrum. For a fleet of around 2.5
million vehicles, as produced by the BMW Group in 2019, this would
correspond to a reduction of more than 40 million tonnes of CO2 over
the lifecycle in 2030.
Board of Management and executive management to be measured
against sustainability targets
“We have made a very clear commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement.
With this new strategic direction, we are therefore setting a course
that is in accordance with the well below two-degrees target. We are
not just making abstract statements – we have developed a detailed
ten-year plan with annual interim goals for the timeframe up to 2030,”
said Zipse. “We will report on our progress every year and measure
ourselves against these targets. The compensation of our Board of
Management and executive management will also be tied to this.”
Starting next year, the BMW Group will publish its financial figures
and general business development in an integrated
report that will also include updates on its sustainability
goals. “This not only sends a clear signal that we consider our
business model and sustainability to be inseparable, but also that we
will be subjecting our sustainability activities to even broader
external and independent scrutiny than in the past – because
transparency is the best way to strengthen credibility,” said Zipse.
The BMW Group is basing its goals on the guidelines of the recognised
Science-Based Targets Initiative [https://sciencebasedtargets.org/],
which it will also join. Among other things, this means that the CO2
emissions from the production of fuels are also included
(“well-to-wheel” approach).
CO2 from production and sites to be lowered by 80 percent
The BMW Group can directly influence the CO2 emissions of its own
plants and sites, where it already sets the benchmark for the
efficient management of resources. The company is targeting the
biggest reductions industry-wide in this area by 2030 – thus following
a more ambitious path than the 1.5 degree goal.
Having already lowered emissions per vehicle produced by more than 70
percent since 2006, the BMW Group now aims to reduce its emissions
(Scope 1 + 2 – Link) by a further 80 percent from 2019 levels by 2030.
CO2 emissions will then be less than 10 percent of what they were in
2006. The main lever for this is production, which generates around 90
percent of the company’s Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.
In addition to sourcing 100-percent green power as
of this year, the BMW Group will systematically invest in optimising
its energy efficiency and using the possibilities enabled by
digitalisation. The BMW Group is already applying methods like
data analytics to make its production more
efficient – for example, by minimising scrapped parts in the body shop
and through predictive maintenance for machinery. The company will
drive further expansion of renewable energy sources at its worldwide
locations. The use of green hydrogen can also play an
important part in energy generation at suitable BMW Group locations.
In addition to this significant reduction in substance, the BMW Group
will also fully offset its remaining CO2 emissions
(Scope 1 + 2) from 2021 on with appropriate certificates.
Lowering CO2 emissions on the road through millions of
electrified vehicles
The objective is to reduce CO2 emissions from vehicles by 40 percent
per kilometre driven. The main lever here is a far-reaching product
strategy with massive expansion of e-mobility: In ten years, the goal
is to have a total of more than seven million
electrified BMW Group vehicles on the roads
– around two thirds of them with a
fully-electric drive train.
“The best vehicles in the world are sustainable. That is why premium
and sustainability will be even more inextricably linked in the
future,” said Zipse. “We are using our exceptional technological
expertise in both hardware and software not only to make these
vehicles desirable, but also to help reduce CO2 through them.”
Accordingly, the BMW Group is also fully on track to meet its CO2
fleet targets in the EU this year.
Product strategy: fully-electric models in high-volume series
The BMW Group is already a leading provider of electrified vehicles:
By the end of 2021, the BMW Group will offer five fully-electric
production vehicles: the BMW i3*, the
MINI Cooper SE*, the BMW iX3*, the
BMW iNEXT and the BMW i4. Another
milestone will be the upcoming generation of the BMW 7
Series. The BMW brand flagship will be available with four
different drive technologies: with a highly efficient diesel or petrol
engine with 48-volt technology, as an electrified plug-in hybrid and,
for the first time, as a fully-electric BEV model. The company will
have 25 electrified models on the roads by 2023 – half of them fully electric.
In addition to the BMW 7 Series, comprehensive electrification will
be rolled out throughout the model line-up: Further examples of the
“Power of Choice” will be the high-volume
BMW X1 and BMW 5 Series, which
will also be available in the future with all four drive train
variants – fully-electric, plug-in hybrid, diesel and petrol with
48-volt technology.
The BMW Group also began utilising its vehicles’ extensive
connectivity to increase the amount of electric
driving by plug-in hybrids this year. Models with eDrive
Zones technology automatically switch to pure electric mode
as soon as they enter a pre-defined green zone in about 80 European
cities already. As availability expands to more countries and cities,
it will be possible to increase the amount of electric driving by
plug-in hybrids in a growing number of city areas.
As part of its Efficient Dynamics strategy, the BMW
Group will also continue its work on reducing the fuel consumption of
conventional drive trains and making them more efficient. The ongoing
rollout of 48-volt technology is another element of CO2 reduction.
CO2 in the supply chain: significant reduction instead of big increase
With growth in e-mobility, much more attention will need to be paid
to upstream added value in order to reduce CO2 – for example, looking
at energy-intensive production of high-voltage batteries. Because,
without corrective measures, the growing share of
electrified vehicles would mean CO2 emissions per vehicle from the BMW
Group supply chain would increase by more than a third by 2030.
The company not only wants to avoid this increase, but also lower CO2
emissions per vehicle by 20 percent from 2019 levels. One of the ways
the BMW Group is doing this is by defining a supplier’s carbon
footprint as a decision criterion in its
contract award processes. The company leads
the way as the first automobile manufacturer to establish
concrete CO2 targets for its supply chain, which comprises around
12,000 tier 1 partners worldwide who supply material and components
for vehicles, as well as additional suppliers providing production
equipment or tools. The BMW Group has a total purchasing volume of
more than 60 billion euros per year; around two thirds of this amount
is for direct vehicle production.
“CO2 must be reduced in partnership between manufacturers and
suppliers. If you want to convince partners, you must act as a role
model. As a leader in sustainability, what we say counts a great deal
with our suppliers – so we leverage our reputation in this respect,”
said Zipse. “Our aim is to ensure the most sustainable supply
chain in the entire industry.” To achieve this, the BMW
Group is not just focusing on the top level of its tier 1 suppliers,
but also seeking to anchor the topic of sustainability throughout its
entire supply chain.
The BMW Group has already reached a contractual agreement with its
cell manufacturers that they will only use green
power to produce fifth-generation battery cells. This
will save a total of around ten million tonnes of CO2 over the next
ten years. That is roughly the amount of CO2 a city of over a million
inhabitants, like Munich, emits per year. The company will
significantly expand its own use of green power and, in the coming
years, work with its component and raw material suppliers to do the
same throughout the entire supply chain. In this way, the BMW Group
aims to ensure its partners fight climate change with the same
determination and impact as it does itself.
Circular economy for responsible resource management
Alongside lowering CO2 emissions, resource management also plays a
central role in the BMW Group’s business model: For instance,
electromobility cannot rely solely on primary materials in the long
term. The underlying flow of resources needs to
change. By making the recycling chain more transparent, the
BMW Group aims to create high-quality secondary material and enable
itself to track actual further use of raw materials in the cycle. “Our
goal is clear: We want to further close the material cycles to protect
nature’s finite resources and use them even more efficiently,” said Zipse.
Vehicles already have to be 95 percent recyclable – but the
percentage of secondary material in new vehicles is still relatively
low. That is why the BMW Group plans to increase the share of
secondary material in its vehicles significantly by
2030 – and is also exploring very far-reaching scenarios. Secondary
material reduces CO2 emissions substantially compared to primary
materials: by roughly factor 4-6 for aluminium. Minimising the amount
of new extraction needed is also essential to conserve resources and
reduce the potential for conflict – especially for critical raw materials.
The circular economy plays a particularly crucial role when it comes
to high-voltage batteries for electrified vehicles,
which use a number of critical raw materials. Although the European
Union currently requires a recycling rate of only 50 percent for
high-voltage batteries, the BMW Group has partnered with German
recycling specialist Duesenfeld to develop a method that can achieve a
recycling rate of up to 96 percent – including
graphite and electrolytes. The BMW Group already takes back all used
BMW high-voltage batteries worldwide – even though there is no legal
requirement to do so. Before recycling comes
second-life usage at battery storage farms like the
one at BMW Group Plant Leipzig.
The BMW Group is also piloting digital tools all the way to
blockchain technology to track and verify global
flows of goods. The PartChain project, for instance, enables
tamper-proof and consistently verifiable collection of data in the
supply chain. Going forward, critical raw materials, in particular,
could be tracked all the way from mine to smelter.
If you have any questions, please contact:
Corporate Communications
Max-Morten Borgmann, Corporate Communications
Telephone: +49 89 382-24118, Max-Morten.Borgmann@bmwgroup.com
Kai Zöbelein, Sustainability Communications
Telephone: +49 89 382-21170, Kai.Zoebelein@bmwgroup.com
Eckhard Wannieck, head of Corporate and Culture Communications
Telephone: +49 89 382-24544, Eckhard.Wannieck@bmwgroup.com
Media website: www.press.bmwgroup.com
Email: presse@bmwgroup.com
The BMW Group
With its four brands BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, the BMW
Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and
motorcycles and also provides premium financial and mobility services.
The BMW Group production network comprises 31 production and assembly
facilities in 15 countries; the company has a global sales network in
more than 140 countries.
In 2019, the BMW Group sold over 2.5 million passenger vehicles and
more than 175,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax in the
financial year 2019 was € 7.118 billion on revenues amounting to
€ 104.210 billion. As of 31 December 2019, the BMW Group had a
workforce of 126,016 employees.
The success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term
thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established
ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain,
comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to
conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy.
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