(Yicai) March 18 -- BMW has partnered with Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies to jointly develop an intelligent in-vehicle ecosystem for the German luxury carmaker's models made in China.

BMW's new car models in the Chinese market will be equipped with digital services, such as BMW Digital Key, Huawei HiCar, and MyBMW App, based on Huawei's self-developed operating system HarmonyOS Next, the Munich-based company announced on Weibo yesterday.

MyBMW App and MINI App, which allow drivers to remotely activate connected driving services, check the fuel level and battery charging status, and other services, were added to HarmonyOS Next's app store at the end of last year. BMW Digital Key will launch this year, and the deeply integrated Huawei HiCar will debut in 2026.

"In China, nearly a quarter of our mobile application users rely on Huawei devices," Sean Green, president and chief executive officer of BMW Group China," said at an event yesterday. "By deeply integrating with the HarmonyOS ecosystem, BMW will enhance in-car applications and digital connectivity services for HarmonyOS users, elevating intelligent experiences in high-frequency use scenarios."

BMW has about 460 Chinese suppliers and is accelerating collaboration with Chinese technology partners, especially in cutting-edge technologies, such as large language models, generative artificial intelligence, and intelligent voice interaction.

BMW's revenue fell 8.4 percent to EUR142.4 billion (USD155.4 billion) last year from 2023, with net profit plunging 37 percent to EUR7.7 billion (USD8.4 billion) and profit margin dropping to 7.7 percent from 11 percent, according to its financial statement released on March 14.

China was BMW's largest single market in 2024 despite sales declining 13 percent to around 714,500 units from the previous year. This dragged down global sales by 4 percent to 2.45 million units.

"The Chinese market is highly dynamic and characterized by increased competitive pressure," Oliver Zipse, chairman of BMW's Board of Management, said during the earnings conference call.

"In 2024, we delivered over 100,000 battery electric vehicles to customers in China for the first time," Zipse noted. "This makes China our biggest single market for EVs -- even though our sales performance there was dampened last year by persistently low consumer sentiment."

Zipse also mentioned that BMW plans to launch more than 40 new models across global markets by 2027, covering various drive modes and all market segments. The BMW iX3, the first mass-production model under BMW's new EV architecture, will debut at the Shanghai Auto Show in April and begin mass-production for the Chinese market next year.

Huawei does not manufacture cars and is not interested in doing so in the future. Instead, it is a core technology supplier in the intelligent vehicle sector.

In addition to BMW, Huawei has also teamed up with Audi. The German automaker's joint venture in China, FAW-Audi, is expected to launch five new models with advanced driver assistance systems co-developed with the Shenzhen-based company this year.

Editor: Futura Costaglione