The BMW Group says one million vehicles have now been moved without a driver at its plants using Automated Driving In-Plant, known inside the company as AFW. The milestone was announced from Munich and Oxford, and MINI Plant Oxford is the newest site to run the system.
What AFW does
AFW moves new vehicles without a driver inside defined production and logistics areas. The sensors sit in the plant infrastructure, not in the cars. LiDAR sensors along the route constantly scan the surroundings, while cloud architecture and motion planning software guide each vehicle in real time.
Because the sensors are offboard, cars can be moved whatever their individual equipment. BMW says vehicles react to people, other vehicles, driverless transport vehicles, logistics traffic and temporary obstacles. The company also says AFW is CE-certified for safe use in a production environment.
The numbers
- One million vehicles moved so far
- Around 3,500 automated vehicle movements a day across the BMW Group network
- More than 53,000 movements at MINI Plant Oxford in the past year
- Four plants in use: Dingolfing, Leipzig, Regensburg and Oxford
The pilot began in Dingolfing in 2022. In November 2024 BMW said the pilot would move into series operation after CE certification, with Leipzig next and Regensburg and Oxford expected to follow in 2025. At that stage the Dingolfing route ran more than one kilometre from two assembly halls to the finishing area. BMW says Dingolfing has the largest LiDAR infrastructure in Europe.
What is new at Oxford
Oxford is the first BMW Group location to connect the automated vehicles directly with existing control systems. The system positions a car precisely next to a lifting device, where a defined work step is carried out, and a cloud-based solution handles the interaction between car and equipment.
The technology was developed with the Swiss company Embotech. BMW i Ventures, the company’s venture capital fund, acquired a financial interest in Embotech in December 2024, after a multi-year partnership through the BMW Startup Garage.
What it means for readers
This is a factory logistics story, not something you can buy, and the sources give no prices. Nothing changes in the cars customers receive. BMW says the aim is efficiency gains for logistics and a step toward its BMW iFACTORY plan for digital, connected production.
Spartanburg is the next plant on the list. BMW says it will introduce AFW there within the next year, in series operation from 2027. “We are now rolling out this technology worldwide,” said Raymond Wittmann, the Board of Management member responsible for Production. The sources do not mention any Canadian site, so there is nothing Canada specific to report yet.
