- BMW's factory driving system has completed one million automated vehicle movements across its production network.
- External sensors and cloud-based controls guide vehicles without relying on their own fitted equipment.
- Oxford has recorded more than 53,000 movements, with Spartanburg scheduled to join the system in 2027.
New BMW Group cars are driving through production and logistics areas without anyone behind the wheel, using directions from sensors and computers installed in the factory. The company's Automated Driving In-Plant system has now completed one million vehicle movements across its production network.
That milestone counts journeys, so it does not mean one million individual cars have used the system. BMW says its factories currently average around 3500 automated movements a day, with more than 53,000 recorded at Oxford over the past year.
The factory does the guiding
Known as AFW, the system uses external LiDAR and other sensors to monitor defined areas of the plant. A cloud-based control system plans vehicle movements and directs the newly built cars, working independently of the equipment fitted to each vehicle.
BMW says the system responds to people, other vehicles, logistics traffic and temporary obstacles along its routes. The cars follow routes within production and logistics areas, with guidance supplied by the plant infrastructure.
Oxford is the fourth BMW Group plant to adopt AFW, following Dingolfing, Leipzig and Regensburg. The programme began with a pilot at Dingolfing in 2022, and BMW plans to add Spartanburg as its fifth location in 2027.
Driving into position for the next job
Oxford also introduces a more direct connection between the driving system and the factory's existing controls. A vehicle can position itself beside a lifting device for a production step, with the cloud coordinating the car and equipment.
That extends the system's role beyond moving cars between locations to placing them where manufacturing equipment needs them. BMW developed AFW with Swiss technology company Embotech, supported by its Startup Garage programme, and is now expanding its use across more of the production network.
