BMW and MINI already use autonomous driving, although their customers cannot yet see it in its fullness

Full autonomous driving is a technology that still seems distant. It is true that there is already enough technology to incorporate it into the brands’ own catalogues. Despite this, legislation is still reticent about this advance, which is why many manufacturers are forced to use their full potential in closed spaces. Such is the case of Mercedes-Benz with the Stuttgart airport parking lot. For their part, BMW and MINI also make a similar move.

The German Dingolfing factory has been working on technological advances in automation since 2022, under the framework named iFACTORY. So much so that now, all the models produced there leave the assembly line by themselves, without the need for an operator to drive them to their storage location. For this and other advances in this matter, the Dingolfing plant has received the successful CE certification.

Dingolfing factory includes new automation technologies

In addition to Dingolfing, the BMW Group already hopes to receive this certification in other locations, such as the Leipzig plant, to name a few. “Automated driving in the plant optimizes our production process and represents a significant increase in efficiency in our logistics. Therefore, we are going to quickly implement this technology throughout our production network,” he says. Milan Nedeljkovicmember of the Board of Management of BMW AG and responsible for Production.

At the Dingolfing plant, the BMW 5 Series and 7 Series that are manufactured there, They travel completely autonomously, without the need for a drivera journey of more than a kilometer that separates both assembly halls, even going through a short route dedicated to testing, to finally conclude in the Finishing area of ​​these facilities.

This completely autonomous movement is possible thanks to the adoption of specific sensors installed along the entire route. This creates an infrastructure limited by LiDAR sensors, this being the largest in all of Europe. Regardless of the options that that vehicle has, this system controls its movements by sending information to the cloud, allowing it to move with total autonomy.

On the other hand, from the Leipzig plant they also expect introduce this technology in up to 90 percent of the BMW and MINI vehicles produced there; The Regensburg and Oxford facilities will also do the same in 2025. Finally, the new factory that the brand will have in Debrecen, Hungary, will be integrated from the moment it comes into operation, which will be in the coming months.

However, BMW hopes to continue implementing this technology in other areas, in addition to the aforementioned production. Your project is also introduce it in the Test area and distribution areas in its surroundings.

“Over the next ten years, we will carry out several million kilometers of autonomous driving tests in our production network. In this way, the BMW Group once again sets a new benchmark for the automation and digitalization of its production processes, while paving the way for future applications in the field of autonomous driving,” said Nedeljković.