Bavaria’s new hot rod zooms out of the box
BMW is rolling out the plug-in i8, its first sports car in more than three decades, in a bid to keep its cutting-edge image as Tesla Motors shakes up the luxury car market.
The world’s largest maker of upscale vehicles has started deliveries of the $135 700 (R1 436 860) hybrid hot rod to show it can do more than make conventionally powered sedans and sport-utility vehicles.
BMW’s most expensive model combines an electric motor and a lightweight carbon-fibre frame to get better petrol mileage than the Toyota Prius and accelerate faster than a Porsche 911.
“Germany’s premium auto maker feels Tesla’s rise more keenly because they’re expected to be the biggest innovators,” said Juergen Pieper, a Frankfurt-based analyst at Bankhaus Metzler.
“Tesla will be able to win over people who’d normally buy a BMW. Even in Germany, people are lining up to test drive the US car maker’s Model S sedan, the brand’s only car.
For BMW, which claims to make the “ultimate driving machine,” Tesla’s emergence threatens to make the German brand’s refined muscle cars appear antiquated, putting at risk a business model that depends on its ability to command premium prices.
BMW is particularly vulnerable to Tesla’s inroads because it’s a stand-alone luxury-car maker in contrast to Volkswagen’s Audi and Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz.
“The i8 is a brand shaper,” said Ian Robertson, head of sales and marketing for BMW. “Today sustainability is another important element of premium cars, and it may very quickly become a must-have.”
While Tesla sells about one vehicle for every 60 sold by BMW, the California-based manufacturer led by Elon Musk has become a sought-after brand for trendy consumers as it offers clean motoring and a maverick image.
The $63 570 (R673 445) Model S can drive as far as 426km before having to recharge, and Tesla operates fast-charging stations in North America and Europe that customers can use free of charge.
“It represents the right direction, a paradigm change,” said Michael Willberg, chief executive of German headphones maker Ultrasone. He got a Tesla Model S in February, and has driven from the Munich area to Berlin, Cologne and Dresden. “Tesla is the car of our times,” he said.
In a bid to counter that, the i8 can drive emission free for 37km. It has distinctive wing doors and optional laser headlights.
The i8’s roll-out caps a development effort that started about a year before Tesla’s first car — a discontinued roadster — hit the road in 2008.
For decades BMW relied on performance-oriented sedans and SUVs. The i8 comes as its first pure-bred sports car since the M1, which it stopped producing in 1981.
The i8 accelerates to 100km/h in 4.4 seconds, compared with 4.6 seconds for the Porsche 911 Carrera.
The i8 combines a three-cylinder petrol engine with an electric motor that can propel the car for 37km emission free.
But Tesla says it is unfazed by the new competition.
“For buyers looking for an allelectric premium sedan that seats up to seven, there is a choice of one — the Model S,” said Tesla spokesman Simon Sproule.
The BMW sports car, which has already made a cameo appearance alongside Tom Cruise in the Mission: Impossible film, is part of a broader effort by BMW to polish its image as an innovator with the “i” eco-friendly sub-brand. With Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles. — Bloomberg