BMW’s South Korean distributor, BMW Group Korea, announced it had agreed to build a new research and development (R&D) centre to develop advanced mobility services for local customers.
The company said it had signed a preliminary agreement with the Incheon metropolitan city authorities to build the BMW R&D Center Korea in the Cheongna Incheon Hi-Tech Park with completion scheduled for 2023.
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The centre will focus on adapting and introducing advanced technology to the local market, including autonomous driving, connectivity and powertrain electrification.
The company said in a statement: “BMW Korea will cooperate with its German parent group and other South Korean companies to develop future mobility technologies at the new centre.”
The automaker already has a much smaller R&D unit within its BMW Driving Center in Incheon which it established in 2015. This new development would be much larger and designed to handle more advanced technology.
South Korea is a significant market for BMW, with sales in the first 11 months of 2021 rising by 17% to 61,436 units.
