BMW Oz bids for i-brand models
Prestige importer is keen to get i3 and i8 here — with a local launch date from early 2014The management team at BMW Group Australia is unsure whether the local market will gain access to the i3 and i8 eco-cars.
Certainly the local arm has raised its hand to take the city car (i3) and the performance hybrid (i8), but nothing's been decided yet, by the parent. At least, that's what BMW's Product and Market Planning Manager, Toni Andreevski, told journalists earlier this week.
"Yes, [the 'i' brand] is something we'd like to introduce and it's in our preliminary planning — both the i3 and the i8" he said, "but it would be premature to say that we have a confirmation that the cars are coming..."
Andreevski believes that there would be a "niche market" for the two cars in Australia and if the company's head office approves, the i3 and i8 (test model pictured below) could be here "four to six months" after its launch in Europe. That would equate to early 2014.
If the environmentally-friendly BMWs get the go-ahead for Australia the 'i' sub-brand will be promoted more along the lines of BMW's M models, rather than a distinct brand such as MINI, or Benz's smart range.
Presuming the i8 makes it here, it will offer buyers M3 performance with fuel economy to rival current-technology hybrids, according to Andreevski. And at the other end of scale, the 'monobox' i3 will be different from EVs such as Mitsubishi's i-MiEV in one important respect: it has been designed as an EV from the start.
"It will be the first fully electric car that has a bespoke chassis and body," says Andreevski, who went on to explain that the car will be constructed from an aluminium frame and carbon composite body, unlike the i-MiEV, which is a steel monocoque that began life as the wrapping for Mitsubishi's petrol-engined 'i' car.
"The i3 will be quite revolutionary in terms of its design concept," Andreevski concluded. That hints at a prestige market position for the BMW EV, although the time it will take to reach the local market, assuming it does, may well have some bearing on its final purchase price, as Mitsubishi explained during the launch of the retail i-MiEV.
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