The BMW Group has delivered more than 100,000 electrified vehicles to customers worldwide in 2017. All as promised at the beginning of the year. The picture is an eye-catching light installation transformed the BMW Group headquarters. On the world-famous “Four-Cylinder” in the north of Munich. For this was on the evening of 18 December 2017 into a battery. (12/2017)

Munich. The BMW Group has delivered more than 100,000 electrified vehicles to customers worldwide in 2017. All most importantly as promised. All 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. One 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.

Flexible electrification across all model series

Electro-mobility is an essential element of the NUMBER ONE > NEXT corporate strategy. One 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. Then available from 2021, uses scalable, modular electrification kits. All 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.

I mean then the company had already secured the naming rights from BMW i1 to i9. From what I hear that’s from BMW iX1 to iX9. Next year will see the launch of the BMW i8 Roadster.  Then followed in 2019 by a fully electric MINI. Furthermore in 2020, by the electric version of the BMW X3 and in 2021. Then the brand’s new technology flagship. For that’s the BMW iNext. One which will combine electro-mobility with autonomous driving and new interior connectivity options. All 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. That one I remember 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. Yet, 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.

I mean 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.

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 also implemented in collaboration with the cultural organization Spielmotor Muenchen. This public-private partnership between the City of Munich and the BMW Group was founded in 1979. All with the aim of bringing cultural diversity to Munich. Finally and as well as establishing and expanding the city’s role as a national and international cultural destination.