Delivered as promised: BMW Group meets pledge to deliver 100,000 electrified vehicles in 2017

Munich. The BMW Group has delivered more than 100,000
electrified vehicles to customers worldwide in 2017, as promised at
the beginning of the year. This underlines the company’s leadership
role when it comes to electro-mobility. An eye-catching light
installation will mark this milestone on the road to the mobility of
the future, with the BMW Group headquarters, the world-famous
“Four-Cylinder” in the north of Munich, transformed into a battery.
The BMW Group selected this glowing symbol to represent the
technological change taking place in mobility.

“We deliver on our promises,” said Harald Krüger, Chairman of the
Board of Management of BMW AG. “This 99-metre-high signal is lighting
the way into the era of electro-mobility. Selling 100,000 electrified
cars in one year is an important milestone, but this is just the
beginning for us. Since the introduction of the BMW i3 2013, we’ve
delivered over 200,000 electrified cars to our customers and by 2025,
we will offer 25 electrified models to our customers. Our early focus
on electro-mobility has made this success possible – and
electro-mobility will continue to be my measure for our future success.”

 

Flexible electrification across all model series

Electro-mobility is an essential element of the NUMBER ONE NEXT
corporate strategy, which continues to expand the BMW Group’s position
as the leading provider of individual premium mobility and mobility
services. By 2025, the company will offer 25 fully electric and
plug-in hybrid models worldwide. The fifth generation of electric
drive train and battery technology, available from 2021, uses
scalable, modular electrification kits that will allow all model
series to be fitted with every type of drive train. For its BMW i
electric brand, which was founded in 2011, the company has already
secured the naming rights from BMW i1 to i9, as well as from BMW iX1
to iX9. Next year will see the launch of the BMW i8 Roadster, followed
in 2019 by a fully electric MINI; in 2020, by the electric version of
the BMW X3 and in 2021 by the brand’s new technology flagship, the BMW
iNext, which will combine electro-mobility with autonomous driving and
new interior connectivity options for the first time in a
series-production model.

The BMW Group adopted a holistic approach to electro-mobility early,
when it launched project i, the trailblazer for BMW i, back in 2007.
By the following year, electric test fleets took to the roads
worldwide in the largest wide-scale EV field trial the automotive
industry had ever seen. Series production of the fully-electric BMW
i3, one of the most-awarded vehicle concepts in the world, began in
2013. Since then, sales have increased every year, for the past four
consecutive years.

 

 

BMW Group leading provider of electro-mobility

Thanks to its early focus on electro-mobility, the BMW Group
has already achieved a leading position in the electrified vehicles
market. According to the independent POLK/IHS Report (published on 7
Dec. 2017), the BMW Group has a clear lead over its competitors when
it comes to registrations of new fully-electric and plug-in hybrid
vehicles in Europe, with a market share of 21 per cent. This means the
BMW Group’s share of the electrified vehicle segment is more than
three times its share of the market for traditional models. While
electrified vehicles now account for two per cent of new vehicle
registrations across all manufacturers in Europe, the BMW Group figure
is already six per cent. In other words, the BMW Group holds a
disproportionately large share of the growing market for
electro-mobility in Europe. The company’s position is similarly strong
when it comes to the worldwide market – the company has a 10% share of
the global electrified vehicle market.

Electrified models are in especially high demand in western Europe
and the USA, for example, where they account for seven per cent of
total BMW brand sales in both markets. In Scandinavia, where the BMW
i3 is the best-selling BMW model, one in four BMWs sold is
electrified. In Germany, new registrations of fully-electric and
plug-in hybrid BMW Group vehicles will reach more than 10,000 units
this year. Electrified drive trains also play an increasingly
important role in the engine mix for individual models: In 2017, every
tenth model of the highly successful BMW 3 Series Sedan delivered to
customers worldwide was electrified. In the case of the BMW 2 Series
Active Tourer, 13 per cent of the models sold in 2017 were plug-in
hybrids. Since its launch in June 2017, the MINI Cooper S E Countryman
ALL4 (combined fuel consumption of 2.3-2.1 l/100km; CO2 emissions of
52-49 g/km) already accounts for one in ten of MINI Countryman sales
around the world. Sales of the all-electric BMW i3 also increased by
around a quarter. (All figures YTD November 2017.)

Complementing the nine electrified four-wheel vehicles offered by the
BMW Group, the company also manufactures the ideal two-wheeled product
for premium urban electro-mobility: the BMW C evolution. Following the
introduction of a new battery, which extends the scooter’s range to
160km, sales of this electrified scooter have grown by 80% compared to
the first 11 months of last year. The 1,500 units sold around the
world are in addition to the 100,000 electrified automobiles the
company has sold in 2017.

 

 

Ceremonial handover at the BMW Welt

One of these many customers worldwide experienced a special surprise
today: An 80-year-old driver from the North Rhine-Westphalia region of
Germany collected his BMW i3 in Protonic Blue at BMW Welt in Munich
this afternoon, making him the 100,000th customer worldwide to choose
an electrified BMW Group vehicle this year. Harald Krüger, Chairman of
the BMW AG Board of Management, welcomed him to the BMW Welt and
personally handed over the keys to the new car, commenting, “the
excitement connected to electro-mobility is felt by all generations
and handing over the 100,000th electrified car we’ve
brought to the streets this year is a very special moment for me.” 

 

A shining symbol

To celebrate this important milestone, the iconic BMW “Four-Cylinder”
headquarters tower is being transformed by a lighting installation
into four upright batteries, representing the forward thinking which
is a fundamental part of BMW’s DNA. The special illumination will be
projected onto the building on the evening of 18 December 2017 from
8:00 p.m. until midnight. The project was implemented in collaboration
with the cultural organisation Spielmotor Muenchen. This
public-private partnership between the City of Munich and the BMW
Group was founded in 1979 with the aim of bringing cultural diversity
to Munich and establishing and expanding the city’s role as a national
and international cultural destination.

 

 

 

If you have any questions, please contact:

 

BMW Group Corporate Communications

 

Wieland Brúch
BMW i und Electro-mobility
Communication
Telephone:


+49 89 382 72652


E-Mail: Wieland.Bruch@bmw.de

Emma Begley
BMW Group Business and Finance
Communication
Telephone:


+49 89 382 72200


E-Mail: Emma.Begley@bmwgroup.com

Julian Hetzenecker
BMW Group Business and Finance
Communication
Telephone:


+49 89 382 39229


E-Mail: Julian.Hetzenecker@bmw.de

 

Media website: www.press.bmwgroup.com
Email:
presse@bmw.de

 

 

 

The BMW Group

With its four brands BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, the BMW
Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and
motorcycles and also provides premium financial and mobility services.
As a global company, the BMW Group operates 31 production and assembly
facilities in 14 countries and has a global sales network in more than
140 countries.

In 2016, the BMW Group sold approximately 2.367 million cars and
145,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax was approximately
€ 9.67 billion on revenues amounting to € 94.16 billion. As of 31
December 2016, the BMW Group had a workforce of 124,729 employees.

The success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term
thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established
ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain,
comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to
conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy.

 

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