BMW NZ boss not worried by a lack of EVs

Friday, 5 July 2019

Watch: up close and personal with BMW's all-electric X3 SUV.

Not having new product answer to the onslaught of new electric vehicles coming to Kiwis from key rivals Mercedes Benz, Audi and Jaguar does not dismay BMW's local boss.

Karol Abrasowicz-Madej contends his brand doesn't risk being left outpaced by models BMW has no immediate answer. He also says his brand is in good health regardless of the fact that the new car market - and the premium sector in particular - is now slipping back after years of prosperity, with a 5.5 percent year-on-year drop overall after June counts are considered.

BMW volume has been affected, he acknowledges, yet its 6.5 percent fall is less of a hit than suffered by Audi (down 25 per cent by his estimation) and Benz (down 27 per cent).

BMW NZ boss Karol Abrasowicz-Madej doesn't see his brand suffering from its lack of new all-electric product.

'The path we have taken is right. BMW last month was the fastest-growing brand in a dropping market.'

**READ MORE:

BMW may not have any new EVs in its immediate future, but there is plenty of hot M stuff coming.

* BMW accelerates EV plans - with help from Jaguar Land Rover

* Twenty new Audi EVs on their way to New Zealand

BMW broke new ground with its i3 EV in 2013. The city EV is expected to stay in production until 2021.

* A plug for the pleasure of driving an EV in 2019**

BMW has not led the premium sector for some time, however he believes the current situation is promising enough to 'tell me we are on the way to regaining the leading position in the market pretty soon.'

BMW's iNext is the most obvious competitor to Jaguar's I-Pace, but it won't appear in production form until at least 2023.

BMW is still keeping new product rolling in - the X3 M and X4 M have just landed, the X1 and X6 are coming - regardless of how the market plays out.

Competitors are also enhancing their own portfolios, of course, but in addition to new conventional product they also have attention-grabbing pure electrics.

The iX3 and i4 sedan are coming, but when?

BMW hasn't had anything new in the EV-sphere since the i3 in 2013. Expected to remain in production until 2021, the urban-tailored four-seater has benefited from progressive performance and range improvements yet nothing appears to have helped it escape niche status even as national EV buy-in strengthens.

Meantime, the X5-sized iNext crossover - conceivably the most obvious direct foil to the Jaguar I-Pace, Audi e-tron and Mercedes Benz EQC - might not be with us until 2023. By which time the others will have added even more EVs.

'We are pretty confident about the way the automotive business is going to develop,' said Abrasowicz-Madej.

'BMW is absolutely set for the future and ensuring everything we do sets a new trend.'

He reminds Munich has just announced intent to speed up its electric programme, with product initially cited for 2025 release now coming out by 2023.

The Mini EV, the iX3 - the fully electric version of the X3 - the i4 compact sedan and the iNext are all contenders. But when?

BMW is hopeful about having the Mini here next year, but it's not a certainty. While Abrasowicz-Madej has held hope of seeing the X3 BEV in 2021, others from the brand suggest that's ambitious.

Abrasowicz-Madej says he has no problem about the models that tap most directly into the modern market's crossover and SUV fixation, which accounts for 65 per cent of our new vehicle sales, are set to be the last to arrive.

'We have a certain experience in delivering the right product. We want to bring those products to the market properly. We do it at our own pace. We believe what we doing is right.

'But everything the factory produces is deliverable to a global market and we will bring it to New Zealand as soon as we can.'

Regardless of all that, he sees better potential from the NZ scene from plug-in hybrid versions of its orthodox models which appear to account for the greater part of 25 'electrified' models BMW discussed at a NextGen symposium recently.

A 3 Series sedan equivalent of the 530e that already sells here will soon be added, plus a 7 Series. Also coming is another PHEV X5, this generation promising up to 80 kilometres of electric range.

'Do we need to have an electric car to drive electric? Global research shows we should also look at the plug-in hybrids. You do not need to be fully electric to enjoy an electric vehicle.'

Abrasowicz-Madej says these are expected to achieve growing influence here and drive his operation to this year achieve a stated aim of 30 per cent of its fleet being electrified.

Regardless of how intensively BMW goes into electrification, it still plans to continue to invest heavily in internal combustion engines and expects diesels to survive for at least 20 more years and petrol engines for at least 30, though some formats will be dropped as emission standards in Europe continue to tighten.