The BMW Group has produced many success stories. The BMW i brand is one of them.
“Being a true pioneer of electromobility, the BMW i3 is a technology enabler, which allows us to roll out electromobility across all brands and model series. From 2021, we will continue this approach with our BMW iNext. As technological toolkit for the future, this vehicle will also set new standards for future models.” Pieter Nota, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Customer, Brands and Sales, points out.
Strategy NUMBER ONE marked an important milestone on the road to future mobility back in 2007. The focus of the strategy was on bringing electromobility, sustainability and lightweight design to series-production vehicles. “project i” was one of the most important outcomes of Strategy NUMBER ONE, paving the way for sustainable future mobility. It was also the starting point for BORN ELECTRIC and the BMW i brand, with its still highly successful BMW i3 and BMW i8 models. Since 2015, BMW i has been one of the world’s leading and top-selling premium brands for electric models.
The BMW i3 contributes to this. Until today, already more than 150,000 BMW i3 have been sold.
“The BMW Group will of course offer an all-electric vehicle in the compact class segment in future. In its sixth year, the BMW i3 still enjoys double-digit sales growth and is an extremely successful car which will be with us for some more years. To now already speak about a successor or its name would therefore be far too early,“ said Pieter Nota, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Customer, Brands and Sales.
In keeping with the motto E-MOBILITY IS THE NEW NORMAL, vehicles will be able to do much more than just drive electric in the future. Over the next few years, the BMW Group will be concentrating not only on strengthening sustainable mobility, but also on expanding additional technological competencies. Highly autonomous and partially autonomous vehicles will be key technologies for future mobility. Connecting people, vehicles and services plays an increasingly important role and is impacting all areas. Even the design has to reflect these new fields of innovation, by creating a new look for sheer driving pleasure.
These visions will go into series production in the new BMW iNEXT from 2021. The first highly autonomous vehicle in the BMW fleet combines a future-proof, scalable and modular system with ground-breaking innovations. Using high-precision maps, sensors, cloud technology and artificial intelligence, the vehicle is in constant communication with the driver and their surroundings. As the technological spearhead of the BMW Group, the BMW i brand will continue to open up new technologies and services relating to mobility.
The BMW iNEXT takes individual premium mobility to a level previously unheard of. This car will set new standards with highly autonomous driving and digital connectivity, as well as its futuristic design and intelligent lightweight construction. Fitted with the next and newest generation of electric drive trains, the BMW iNEXT offers customers a new and fascinating mobility experience, where the technology remains in the background, virtually out of sight. Vehicle functions can also be operated via surfaces, e.g. by touching the wood in the centre console or the Jacquard cloth of the rear seating. In this way, vehicle operation is completely geared towards the driver’s needs. This will be an important element in every new BMW Group model going forward.
By 2021, the BMW Group plans to have one million electrified vehicles on the roads. 25 electrified models are planned by 2023, more than half of which will be fully electric. We will start production on the battery-electric MINI later this year. This will be followed next year by the battery-electric BMW iX3. Dingolfing will build our new technology flagship, the pure-electric BMW iNEXT, from 2021. Production of the BMW i4 will begin in Munich in the same year.
