BMW has announced that three years after the launch of its i sub-brand, it has managed to hit the 100,000 sales milestone.
More than 100,000 plug-in hybrid and all-electric models have rolled off the production line since BMW’s launch of i division in November 2013; 60,000 of which were the i3 hatch, 10,000 i8 hybrid sports cars and an additional 30,000 plug-in hybrid variants of existing models, sold under the ‘iPerformance’ moniker.
What’s more impressive is that BMW says its i division is attracting new buyers to the marque. In a statement BMW said that “80 percent of i3 buyers are new to BMW, making it the most successful electric vehicle in the premium compact segment”. Chairman of the board of management at BMW, Harald Kruger, said:
“BMW i remains our spearhead in terms of innovation and it will continue to open up groundbreaking technologies for the BMW Group. When it comes to electric drivetrains, we’ve already successfully managed to put this technology transfer on the road. The next technological advance we will address is automated driving, where the BMW iNEXT will set a new benchmark.”
BMW is proud to announce that it now has seven all-electric and plug-in hybrid offerings in its ranks, with plans for a plug-in hybrid variant of the MINI Countryman set to hit the road next year. In addition, BMW confirmed the arrival of a new i8 variant for 2018, alongside a roadster option. BMW says that “looking further ahead, a purely electric powered MINI [is coming] in 2019, and a purely electric-powered BMW X3 in 2020.”
In addition, the German manufacturer once again confirmed the arrival of the BMW iNEXT project, a larger electric-drive SUV: “At the start of the next decade, another larger BMW i model with electric drive is due to appear: the BMW iNEXT. This highly innovative model will be the new innovation leader and spearhead of BMW i.”
