BMW will continue developing new petrol and diesel engines even though the company is embarking on an aggressive push for fully electric vehicles (EV), where all model series to include a fully electric option.
BMW Group CEO Oliver Zipse told the media that BMW had no plans to stop developing the internal combustion engines (ICE), as it was confident customer demands will continue for many years to come, as noted by CNBC’s automotive reporter Phil LeBeau.
The topic came into light, picked up by Australia’s Caradvice, after an announcement by Audi CEO Markus Duesmann that the carmaker owned by Volkswagen Group would halt the development ICE due to strict Euro 7 emissions standards that present a significant technical challenge. The company will instead adapt existing ICEs to meet stringent emission guidelines.
Audi, together with marques in the Volkswagen Group have a much larger portfolio of EVs already in the marketplace, whereas BMW only premiered their new i4 electric sedan earlier this week.
BMW has also announced that MINI is set to become an all-electric brand by the early 2030s. The transition will begin with the all-new Countryman slated for sales in 2023 and targets 50% of all new MINI sales to be EVs in 2027. MINI recently introduced their first EV with the Cooper SE that is built on the current F55-generation hatchback, available in Malaysia priced from RM214,371.
ICEs will remain popular and default choice for carmakers for continuous revenue and funds for investment into better EV technology. In a recent presentation by Kia Motors, EVs are estimated to only make up 34% of global new vehicle sales in 2030. Analysts forecast that China will be the leading market, with nearly half of new vehicles delivered are fully electric, with Europe just a few percentage points behind.
In the US, demand for ICE (with and without electrification) is still expected to be strong at close to 80% of the market.
