BMW Confirms No Direct i3 Successor

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Lets see what happens now that they have effectively fired Harold Krüger who took over as CEO of BMW, replacing Dr. Norbert Reithofer.
Reithofer had been pushing electrification and had been one of the driving forces behind the BMW i models. With Kruger in charge, BMW lost momentum on it's electric car vision, being passed by several other auto makers, and also lost some of their electric car talent during that time. I think the BMW board recognized this as a major stumble - and seem to be looking to rectify it. I'd reserve judgement on the i3 until Kruger's replacement is named, and that person's ideas on BMW's direction start to come out.
 
I wonder why they should do it, they are still launching Mini Cooper EV shortly. I would certainly remove the existing i3 from the lineup - it's probably still generating losses for each car sold, and BMW is no Tesla with endless pool of capital around - they need to manage their financials prudently. But a re-badged BMW i3 based on Mini EV seems like a no-brainer. They could even retain the design cues, just get rid of carbon fiber body and other quirks such as skinny tires.
 
I would certainly remove the existing i3 from the lineup - it's probably still generating losses for each car sold,

According to insiders, the BMW i line is profitable, just not with the high margins of the BMW ICE cars.
And the new BMW MINI EV is being built by grafting all the BMW i3 'innards' into a MINI chassis.
 
MKH said:
According to insiders, the BMW i line is profitable, just not with the high margins of the BMW ICE cars.

I'll play devil's advocate, and speculate that the only way the i3 can be profitable is if the loss on every i3 sold is priced into the sale prices of M3's and other gas-guzzlers skewing the USA CAFE fleet fuel economy ratings.

The only other way would be if the markup on the i8 is crazy high.....
 
I'll play devil's advocate, and speculate that the only way the i3 can be profitable is if the loss on every i3 sold is priced into the sale prices of M3's

Munro & Associates is a company that disassembles new cars to offer competitors a chance to see how they're constructed and how much they may cost to build. They also consult with major auto manufacturers in helping them design manufacturing processes that keep costs down. They recently worked with Tata Motors for the assembly design of the Jaguar i-Pace electric SUV, helping cut total manufacturing costs of the vehicle by some 30%.

Munro & Associates orchestrated a "teardown" of the i3 at its facility outside Detroit in 2015. Their report on the i3 is 23,000 pages, and can be purchased for the paltry sum of $150,000. They claim that their Cost Models are very accurate, with compiled data on major global suppliers and Tier 1, 2, and 3 manufacturers including cost calculations based on the suppliers/manufacturer’s Country of Origin, accounting for labor (OEM & Suppliers) as well as machine burden rates, utilities cost, factory floor cost, taxes and SG&A (Sales, General, and Administrative costs).

Munro engineers estimate the BMW i3 profitable at 20,000 units sold. Through the end of 2018, BMW sold 130,000 i3's.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1096123_bmw-i3-electric-car-teardown-profitable-at-20000-units-says-engineer-video

http://leandesign.com/pdf/BMW-i3-Prospectus.pdf
 
Interesting post by the AutoExpress blogger who attended the Geneva Motor Show in March, and spoke with the BMW i division chief:

" i Division chief Robert Irlinger said the latest battery tweaks would not be the last upgrades in the i3’s life - and stressed that the car is not bound by conventional life cycles."

“There is always further potential,” Irlinger said, “and we always look to the market and and whether we’ll need something - a big update or a small update. But there is more to come. When you’re talking about the battery, actually we had quite good feedback from the markets that the latest [120Ah] one is totally fine, if you’re using the car normally in an urban area. There is a little bit more coming; you will see something.”

He added, “The i cars - the i3 and the i8 - are not comparable with normal BMW cars, which usually have a life cycle of about seven years. With i we will always try something new. Every year we’ve been selling more. We’re still confident with the car, and about its future success. If more people like it, and they keep liking it, why should we drop it?”
 
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