BMW & MINI Cars Can Now Drive Autonomously Around The Factories

BMW & MINI cars can now move through factories without human drivers, thanks to the Automated Driving In-Plant system.

While some automakers are constantly pushing the development of their fully-autonomous driving systems for road use, BMW Group has elected to use said technology to maximise its production efficiency instead. What started off as a pilot project two years ago, the automaker is now ready to implement the Automated Driving In-Plant (AFW) system in several of its production facilities in Europe.

Set to be implemented at both BMW Dingolfing and Leipzig plants in Germany, this system technically allows BMW and MINI vehicles produced at its European plants to move by themselves around the facilities. This system helps to remove the need for extra manpower required to move them, thus improving its production efficiency and reducing time.

Prior to this full-scale implementation at some of its largest production plants, BMW Group has been testing the AFW system since 2022, where the pilot project started at its flagship Dingolfing plant. The pilot project saw both the BMW 5-Series and 7-Series models assembled at said plant drive themselves along a route of more than 1 KM from two assembly halls and through a small test course before making their way to the plant’s finishing area.

For the series operation, the AFW system doesn't need to rely entirely on the car’s on-board ADAS equipment, meaning that it can be used regardless of the vehicle’s equipment options. Instead, the automaker has installed a series of LiDAR sensors along the route of its production facilities and works alongside an external movement planner and an environmental model that controls the vehicle’s movements.

The Dingolfing plant is now ready to transition from the pilot programme to a full series operation, while the Leipzig plant is in the midst of upgrading to the full AFW system, where 90% of BMW and MINI models produced there will make use of this system once fully operational. Besides these two locations, BMW Group is also planning to introduce the AFW system at its Regensburg and Oxford production facilities later in 2025, whereas its newly-opened Debrecen plant in Hungary will also adopt the system once it begins series operations in the near future.

“Automated Driving In-Plant optimises our production process and delivers significant efficiency gains for our logistics. That is why we will be swiftly rolling out this technology throughout our production network,” said Milan Nedeljkovic, member of the Board of Management for Production for BMW Group.

Moving forward, BMW Group hopes to expand the usage of its AFW system for other areas of production, allowing newly-produced vehicles to drive themselves through testing zones and across outdoor distribution areas.