In developing the i3 and the i8, BMW has placed a rather large wager on the future of electric mobility. The premium automaker says that engineering costs have been "written off" and "we will make money with the first car sold." This creative accouting is bolstered by what appears to be good news from the sales side. BMW sales and marketing board member Ian Robertson has told Reuters that nearly 10,000 i3s are on order and the i8 has "sold out" for 2014.
To gain some perspective, we spoke with a spokesman for BMW. The i3 orders are, indeed, firm, but Robertson's statement that next year's inventory of i8s is spoken for is based on predictions from the sales team rather than actual orders. BMW doesn't divulge production forecasts, but analysts IHS Automotive do. IHS expects global sales for the i3 to amount to 21,416 units next year and 22,480 in 2015, with 1932 i8s expected to find homes in 2014 and 5085 the year after.
According to U.S. dealers, the i8 is as good as sold out. Both the sports car and the i3 will be available from this spring, and we're told that some dealers have begun taking deposits to get on waiting lists for the $135,925 electrified three-cylinder. But it will be much easier to get into an i3, which is built in higher numbers and costs $41,350, or $45,200 with a range-extending internal-combustion engine.
The situation in Germany is vastly different. Dealers say that they can't even order an i8 yet and are uncertain as to the vehicle's actual launch date. "I haven't been able to order one," said a dealer in a major German city, and added, "I don't know how it could be sold out." Demand, we are told, is low. The i3, by contrast, will be readily available on its home turf. German dealers have factory-owned demo cars on hand, and the first ceremonious deliveries to hand-picked customers have been made.
- Prototype Drive: 2015 BMW i8
- Instrumented Test: 2013 BMW ActiveHybrid 3
- First Drive: 2014 Cadillac ELR
One of the nearly 50 hand-picked German i dealers tells us that if we were to order an i3 now, we could have it by April (the first of the non-ceremonious deliveries will be made in March).We were also told that we could have an i3 range extender by July, and the dealer added that we'd be the first name on his order sheet for the two-cylinder–assisted model.
from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com
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