Photo: Newspress.co.uk
Even before the first i3 ever reached US soil, BMW claimed that the North American market will be the biggest for their first all-electric vehicle. Now, the company reiterates the interest it’s paying to the US market and wants to increase the number of i3 and i8 models sent across the Atlantic Ocean.
Speaking at the Paris Motor Show, BMW sales and marketing boss, Ian Robertson said to Automotive News that the goal is to reduce the waiting time people are faced with at the moment, because it’s just too much.
So far, the company sold over 10,000 i cars, including the i3 and the i8 to date. The Leipzig plant where they are made is now working overtime to cope with the number of orders put in. Not even BMW didn’t expect their cars to be so popular.
At the moment about 100 i cars are rolling out of production facilities in Germany but they are insufficient since about 100 of them are sold wordwide every day as well.
BMW stated that they will limit the production of the i8 to make it as desirable as possible but it seems like they changed their minds, the waiting list becoming too long in the last few months. They are now considering increasing the production, taking some of the i3’s time on the assembly lines.
“We are looking at taking a few i3 slots and making i8s because they go down the same production line,” said Robertson. “The wait times are too long, and we will adjust that and sell more i8s, but cautiously.”
That’s one way to go about it but other variants are also being considered, like moving the production to another facility. However, for now, no final decision wasn’t agreed upon.
The problem is that the Leipzig plant is the only one from BMW that is actually eco-friendly and the idea behind the i cars was to make them as ‘green’ as possible, from production to the specs.
In Leipzig, the plant uses renewable energy, is naturally illuminated and ventilated therefore adhering to the i philosophy. Making the i8 at a different plan would defeat the initial purpose.
So far, the company sold over 10,000 i cars, including the i3 and the i8 to date. The Leipzig plant where they are made is now working overtime to cope with the number of orders put in. Not even BMW didn’t expect their cars to be so popular.
At the moment about 100 i cars are rolling out of production facilities in Germany but they are insufficient since about 100 of them are sold wordwide every day as well.
BMW stated that they will limit the production of the i8 to make it as desirable as possible but it seems like they changed their minds, the waiting list becoming too long in the last few months. They are now considering increasing the production, taking some of the i3’s time on the assembly lines.
“We are looking at taking a few i3 slots and making i8s because they go down the same production line,” said Robertson. “The wait times are too long, and we will adjust that and sell more i8s, but cautiously.”
That’s one way to go about it but other variants are also being considered, like moving the production to another facility. However, for now, no final decision wasn’t agreed upon.
The problem is that the Leipzig plant is the only one from BMW that is actually eco-friendly and the idea behind the i cars was to make them as ‘green’ as possible, from production to the specs.
In Leipzig, the plant uses renewable energy, is naturally illuminated and ventilated therefore adhering to the i philosophy. Making the i8 at a different plan would defeat the initial purpose.
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