{"id":214661,"date":"2017-12-05T07:30:52","date_gmt":"2017-12-05T05:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=214661"},"modified":"2017-12-05T07:30:52","modified_gmt":"2017-12-05T05:30:52","slug":"bmw-targets-50-increase-in-electric-vehicle-sales-in-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/motoring\/214661\/bmw-targets-50-increase-in-electric-vehicle-sales-in-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"BMW targets 50% increase in electric vehicle sales in 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

BMW is targeting another ambitious hike in plug-in hybrid and battery car sales next year to defend its position in the electric-car shift as competitors like Volkswagen AG ready their own battery lineups.<\/p>\n

The planned increase to about 150,000 cars sold would represent a 50% rise from this year, and a jump of about two-thirds from last year\u2019s deliveries of green cars. BMW, an early mover in the electric-car shift with 2013\u2019s i3, is facing increasing competition from rivals like Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll definitely boost sales by a mid-double digit amount,\u2019\u2019 Klaus Froehlich, who heads development for BMW, told reporters in Munich. \u201cThis is to stay ahead of the competition that\u2019s starting to do its own rollout.\u2018\u2019<\/p>\n

Faced with tightening emissions regulation, BMW and other carmakers are spending record amounts developing a more attractive suite of electric cars to kickstart sluggish consumer sales.<\/p>\n

The payoff remains uncertain, as high battery prices will squeeze returns compared to equivalent combustion engine vehicles – at least for a number of years. Demand for the vehicles remains at a fraction of total auto sales, with BMW\u2019s target paling compared to total 2016 deliveries of 2.4 million vehicles.<\/p>\n

Luxury Breadwinners<\/strong><\/p>\n

To help pay for the shift, BMW will start sales next year of the all-new X7 SUV and 8-Series coupe, priced at around 100,000 euros ($119,000). The expanded top-line segment will go head-to-head with Mercedes-Benz\u2019s luxury variants like the S-Class coupe and Maybach sub-brand.<\/p>\n

Unlike Mercedes\u2019s parent Daimler AG, also the world\u2019s biggest commercial vehicle maker, or 12-brand behemoth Volkswagen, BMW has less opportunity to spread development costs of its suite of at least 12 all-electric cars by 2025. Volkswagen plans to have 50 battery cars by then.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal for the luxury segment in the next few years is taking more market share,\u2019\u2019 chief executive officer Harald Krueger said in speech notes, adding that the new suite of luxury cars will be sold under the \u201cBayerische Motoren Werke\u2019\u2019 signature.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2018, we\u2019re significantly enlarging our offering in this lucrative growth segment.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

BMW is in the midst of a record rollout of 40 all-new and revamped vehicles this year and next, seeking to wrest back global leadership of luxury car sales from Mercedes. Its Stuttgart, Germany-based rival overtook BMW last year for the first time in a decade, after overhauling a stodgy lineup with sportier styling and adding new models.<\/p>\n

BMW\u2019s electric push coincides with the biggest transformation for the industry in decades, drawing in a host of new competitors like Tesla Inc and Uber Technologies Inc.\u00a0BMW last month flagged it\u2019ll spend 7 billion euros on research and development this year, as much as 2011 and 2012 taken together.<\/p>\n

Tight Margins<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mercedes, meanwhile, said it\u2019s targeting savings of 4 billion euros by 2025, saying returns on electric cars could be roughly half of gasoline and diesel vehicles for some years. The concerns about mastering the pressures have pushed the valuations of BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen to the bottom four\u00a0 rungs in the Dax Index.<\/p>\n

BMW\u2019s struggles with slow sales of the i3 city car, which used a lightweight carbon-fiber body for the first time in a mass-produced vehicle, prompted the carmaker to dial back its electric ambitions and pause from adding more electric-only vehicles to its lineup.<\/p>\n

Next year, it\u2019s bringing out an electric Mini, followed by a battery-powered X3 SUV in 2020, adding electric powertrains to existing models rather than creating a distinct, separate lineup like Mercedes\u2019s planned 10-vehicle EQ range.\u00a0In the future, BMW will bundle its electric model versions under its \u2018i\u2019 brand, and has reserved naming rights for models iX1 through iX9.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis can\u2019t be just about showcase cars,\u2019\u2019 said Froehlich. \u201cWe have to boost profitability and keep prices on an acceptable level by delving very, very deeply into our cost structure.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

\n

Read: Toyota explores airless tires to build lighter electric vehicles<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BMW is targeting another ambitious hike in plug-in hybrid and battery car sales next year to defend its position in the electric-car shift as competitors like Volkswagen AG ready their own battery lineups.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":214663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11119],"tags":[5365],"class_list":["post-214661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motoring","tag-bmw"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214661"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":214665,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214661\/revisions\/214665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}