The BMW Group is systematically advancing the digitalization and automation of its production processes within the BMW iFACTORY framework. Since 2022, the company has been testing Automated Driving In-Plant (AFW) for new vehicles at its largest European plant in Dingolfing. Following successful CE certification, the pilot project is now transitioning into series operation.
In addition to Dingolfing, Leipzig is also currently being enabled to implement the AFW project in series operation. Other facilities in the BMW Group production network are set to follow in stages.
In addition to the BMW 5 Series and 7 Series in Dingolfing, this technology is now also being utilized for the MINI Countryman and other BMW models in Leipzig. In Dingolfing, these new vehicles drive autonomously, without a driver, along a route of over a kilometer, from the two assembly halls, through the “short test course,” and to the plant’s finishing area.
This is made possible by sensors installed along the route, creating the largest LIDAR infrastructure in Europe, and relying on an externally generated environment model and an external movement planner. Regardless of the vehicle’s equipment options, this system controls its automated movements using state-of-the-art cloud architecture. Parts of this technology were provided by the young Swiss company Embotech AG, which the BMW Group had already collaborated with in the early stages through its venture client unit, the BMW START-UP Garage.
Plant Leipzig aims to introduce automated driving for approximately 90 percent of the BMW and MINI models produced there, with Plants Regensburg and Oxford set to follow suit in 2025. The new site in Debrecen, Hungary, will also implement this technology from the official launch of series production.
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✅ Source: BMW
