The BMW Group sold more than 140,000 electrified (battery-electric and plug-in hybrid) vehicles in 2018, thereby confirming its leading role in the field of electromobility.

In total, 142,617 (+38.4 per cent) electrified BMW and MINI vehicles were delivered to customers around the world last year, said a company statement.

Harald Krüger, chairman of the board of management of BMW AG, said: “Since launching the BMW i3 in 2013, the group has rapidly grown its sales of electrified vehicles. With over 140,000 delivered in 2018, we have once again achieved our ambitious target.”

“This great sales result and our impressive market share proves our vehicles are what the customer wants. In countries which offer appropriate infrastructure and regulatory support, we see how quickly electromobility can become the norm,” he said.

“I’m confident that by the end of this year, there will be a total of half a million electrified BMW Group vehicles on the roads, with much more to come as we continue to extend our model line-up over the next few years,” he added.

Europe is the group’s biggest sales region for battery and plug-in hybrid vehicles, accounting for over 50 per cent of sales in 2018. With 75,000 electrified vehicles delivered to customers in Europe last year, the BMW Group is the clear market leader in the region, with over 16 per cent market share, it said.

In the company’s home market, Germany, the BMW Group accounts for one in five electrified vehicles sold last year. Globally, the BMW Group’s market share is over 9 per cent. The company’s biggest single market for electrified vehicles is the US, where over 25,000 electrified BMW and MINI vehicles were sold in 2018, accounting for more than 7 per cent of the BMW Group’s overall sales in that country.

The BMW 530e (combined fuel consumption: 2.3-2.1 l/100 km; combined power consumption: 52 – 47 g/100km; combined CO2 emissions: 13.9 – 13.3 g/km*) was the year’s biggest-selling luxury plug-in hybrid in the US, it added.

The growing significance of electromobility for the BMW Group’s ongoing success as the world’s number one premium automotive company can already be seen today. Electrified vehicles accounted for 6 per cent of total BMW and MINI sales in 2018, compared with 4 per cent in 2017.
 
Electromobility is an essential pillar of the BMW Group’s corporate strategy Number ONE>NEXT and one of the company’s four key future-focused ACES topics (autonomous, connected, electrified and services/shared).

Having announced record spending on R&D in 2018, Krüger confirmed: “We are implementing our strategy rigorously and investing extensively in the technologies of the future; expanding our leading role in electric mobility is a clear focus.”

“2018 was a significant year in this regard, with the announcement of major new strategic co-operations as well as the unveiling of several key new models,” he added.

2019 will see the launch of several new plug-in hybrids, including the new generation BMW X5 plug-in hybrid (combined fuel consumption: 2.1 l/100 km; combined power consumption: 23.0 kWh/100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 49 g/km*) and the new BMW 3 Series plug-in hybrid (fuel consumption: from 1.7 l/100 km; CO2 emissions: from 39 g/km*), said the company in a statement.

These models will have the latest generation of electric drive trains, offering an electric range of up to 80 km according to the NEDC cycle. 2019 is also the year when the hotly anticipated MINI Electric will be revealed, which will be built in Oxford, UK, it said.
 
With the launch of the BMW i3, the BMW Group established itself early as a pioneer in the field of electric mobility. By 2021, the BMW Group will have five all-electric models: the BMW i3, the MINI Electric, the BMW iX3, the BMW i4 and the BMW iNEXT.

By 2025, that number is set to grow to at least 12 models. Including plug-in hybrids, the BMW Group’s electrified product portfolio will then comprise at least 25 models, it added.
 
This wide range is possible thanks to highly flexible vehicle architectures and an equally flexible global production system. Going forward, the BMW Group will be capable of manufacturing models with all-electric (BEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and conventional (ICE) drivetrains on a single production line. Its ability to integrate e-mobility in the production network enables the BMW Group to respond even more flexibly to the increasing demand for electrified vehicles. By the end of 2019, the BMW Group expects to have more than half a million electrified vehicles on the roads.
 
The BMW Group is currently developing the fifth generation of its electric drivetrain, in which the interplay of electric motor, transmission, power electronics and battery will be additionally optimised.

Integrating the electric motor, transmission and power electronics also cuts costs. Another advantage is that the electric motor does not require rare earths, enabling the BMW Group to reduce its dependence on their availability. The fifth generation of the electric drivetrain will be installed for the first time in the BMW iX3 in 2020, it stated. – TradeArabia News Service