The future is electric and all manufacturers are jumping on that bandwagon. Audi very recently firmed up its plans as far as electrified mobility was concerned and we got you all the details and now BMW has come out with its own set of plans, though it already has been doing well with the i3 all-electric car and the i4 plug-in hybrid. Harald Kruger, Chairman of the Board of Management, BMW AG said that the company was targeting its ninth successive record year in 2018 and it's stepping up the pace to get there.
In 2018, the broadest product initiative ever undertaken by the BMW Group will take shape and the company will launch the BMW X2 in March globally, the ramping up of the BMW X3 at three production sites and the new generation of the BMW X4 later in the year. "We are bringing out completely new models and introducing a new design language for the whole product range. This is our recipe to ensure that the BMW brand regains pole position in the premium segment by 2020," Kruger stated. "We gave the public a taste of these developments with the unveiling of the BMW Concept M8 Gran Coupe at the Geneva Motor Show and the series version will be presented in 2019."
(The new BMW X4 was showcased at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show)
Also Read: BMW X4 Coming To India In 2019
Beside these, the company's electric vehicle strategy is also in place. It already has an electric vehicle portfolio and in 2017, BMW delivered more than 100,000 electrified vehicles to customers, mainly driven by the performance of the all-electric BMW i3, sales of which have risen every year since its market launch in 2013. Last year, the BMW Group accounted for more newly registered electrified vehicles (all-electric + plug-in hybrid) than any other manufacturer in Europe, with a share of 21 percent. BMW intends to grow sales of its electrified vehicles to at least 140,000 units globally in 2018 and is targeting more than half a million units on the world's roads by the end of 2019. "Our electric mobility strategy is having a positive impact: the broad range of electrified models we now offer enabled us to cut CO2 emissions across our EU fleet yet again in 2017," CEO Harald Kruger pointed out.
The BMW i3 has boosted electric vehicles sales for BMW
BMW and Chinese manufacturer Great Wall signed a letter of intent in February to establish a joint venture for the local production of fully electric MINI vehicles in China. The company also plans to launch an all-electric BMW i4 which will be the production model of the BMW I Vision Dynamics concept showcased at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show. The i4 will be manufactured at the Munich plant.
In 2019, Plant Oxford will join this list with the start of production of the fully-electric MINI. The BMW i4 is just one of the 25 electrified models that the BMW Group intends to bring to market by 2025. Half of these models will be fully electric. Powered by the fifth generation of battery and drivetrain technology, from 2021 the BMW Group will be capable of offering all-electric vehicles with a range of up to 700 kilometres and plug-in hybrids with an electrical range of up to 100 kilometres.
The BMW Group plans to allocate an increasing amount to research and development in the current year. After spending 6,108 million Euros in 2017, investment will rise by a further high three-digit million-euro amount year-on-year, primarily for the ongoing new model initiative as well as continued work on e-mobility and autonomous driving. In absolute terms, the amount could reach the 7 billion euro mark. The major scale of investment reflects the BMW Group's determination to play a leading role in transforming the mobility sector with its future-oriented ACES programme: Automated, Connected, Electrified and Services.
