BMW i8 to be axed in April

BMW will cease production of its head-turning i8 sports car in April.

Though the BMW i8 can be partially credited with kick-starting a wave of greener sports cars since its introduction in 2014, the plug-in hybrid two-door ultimately didn’t generate the kind of sustainable sales BMW had hoped for.

In Australia, BMW sold just 17 examples of the i8 last year, which in turn was three more than in 2018.

It is understood BMW Australia will continue to offer the Porsche 911 rival until supplies dried up, with dozens of cars still in stock locally.

Looking back, there will likely be numerous reasons for the i8’s slow take-up, including the fact it retailed at a hefty $318,900 (plus on-road costs) in coupe form in Australia, or $348,900 as a convertible.

A relative lack of power was arguably the major reason for the i8’s demise, however. Initially revealed as a turbo-diesel concept in 2009, the production model that debuted in 2014 combined a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol three-cylinder engine good for 170kW and 320Nm.

The corresponding 4.4-second 0-100km/h time failed to properly ignite demand in a segment where a sub-3.5sec pass is now considered mainstream.

In May last year, BMW executives confirmed they were considering a pure-electric i8 successor to launch in 2023 as a means of providing a “tangible link” between the car-maker’s road cars and its big investment in Formula E.

By 2025, BMW says it will offer 25 models with an electrified drive system – of which 12 will be pure-electric. The determining factor for each will be whether BMW wants to showcase that vehicle’s technology before adapting to its regular passenger range.

Moving forward, all BMWs will be underpinned by one of two platforms -- the rear/all-wheel drive CLAR architecture or the front/all-wheel drive FAAR architecture. Each will be adaptable to standard internal combustion, plug-in hybrid and fully electric drivetrains.