BMW kills off flagship i8 sports car

BMW has announced it will end production of its flagship i8 coupe and i8 Roadster next month, less than six years after the plug-in hybrid sports car went on sale.

Confirming it was killing off the i8, BMW said the Leipzig plant that makes the fast plug-in hybrid two-door will switch its focus to prepare for the arrival of next-gen pure-electric models like the iX3, i4 sedan and the large iNext SUV.

First introduced back in 2014, the BMW i8 was the technological tour de force used to launch the German car-maker's electrified i sub-brand.

Since then, BMW has sold 20,000 i8s, including the facelifted version from 2018 and the drop-top roadster derivative.

As well as its advanced hybrid powertrain, which combines a peppy 1.5-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine with an electric motor, the i8 is based on a lightweight carbon-fibre monocoque platform.

The knowledge accrued from the i8 helped BMW develop the Carbon Core body structure for the latest 7 Series limousine.

Celebrating the end of production, the car-maker said it will launch a special Ultimate Sophito Edition model that will be limited to just 200 cars.

BMW is primed to eventually replace the i8 with a production car inspired by the 2019 Vision M Next concept, but that car isn't set to arrive until 2025.

When it does, the pure-electric BMW coupe will rival cars like the Tesla Roadster and benefit from the German car-maker's huge investment in Formula E, with electric motors lifted from the race car.