Krüger succession: Oliver Zipse new BMW CEO
Oliver Zipse will take the lead at BMW on 16 August, the board just decided as much. With Harald Krüger leaving, the German carmaker will have much to do to catch up on electric mobility, fast.
Read more
BMW CEO Harald Krüger to retire from board
BMW CEO Harald Krüger has informed the Supervisory Board that he will not be available for a second term of office. The actual renewal of the contract had recently become more and more questionable – likely also because of Krüger’s hesitation regarding electric mobility.
Read more
German carmakers show full e-mobility commitment
In a concerted rebranding campaign, the three German premium vehicle manufacturers Audi, BMW and Mercedes want to adapt their labelling to the electric mobility of the future. The brand-new designs are exclusively available to our industry service electrive so far. Happy April Fools!
Read more- ADVERTISEMENT -
‘Das Auto’ is to be battery-electric
During a call, executives of VW, BMW and Daimler have agreed on a common approach towards electric mobility following Volkswagen’s recent demand for technological clarity. Insiders report the trio being in agreement that the near future belongs to battery-electric vehicles.
Read more
BMW sells over 140,000 plug-in cars throughout 2018
Having delivered 142,617 electrified vehicles last year, the BMW Group that includes Mini has reached their 2018 target of selling 140,000 electric cars and PHEVs. And, their eyes are set on further growth.
Read more
BMW teasing iNEXT and wants to expand in China
BMW has revealed a teaser image of the upcoming iNEXT. While the image allows for a very limited glimpse of their upcoming electric model only, it precedes what BMW calls its Vision Vehicle, that can be expected this year.
Read more- ADVERTISEMENT -
What’s NEXT for BMW?
BMW has taken stock and delivered an outlook on the the near future. Next one up is a preview of the iX3, the Bavarians’ next venture into all-electric driving. On top, expect to see more of the iNEXT this year that shall roam autonomously by 2020.
Read moreHarald Krüger, Chris Gubbey.
“BMW can’t invest into the future if you don’t have any free trade agreements.”
BMW’s decision to build its electric Mini in the UK is not irreversible. CEO Harald Krueger says that in the case of a hard Brexit without free trade deal, the carmaker might look for alternatives abroad.
aol.co.uk
“BMW can’t invest into the future if you don’t have any free trade agreements.”
Also, the London Electric Vehicle Company awaits first results of the Brexit negotiations. CEO Chris Gubbey hopes that they will not jeopardise the company’s target to export half of the electric black cabs made in England by 2020.
europe.autonews.com
“We’re very keen to see the negotiations proceed in the direction of maintaining the current situation, without additional tariffs. I don’t think anybody has a truly effective Plan B.”Harald Krüger, Tony Whitehorn.
BMW CEO Harald Krüger expects China to clarify its EV policy shortly and added, BMW “will react accordingly.” Beijing has been discussing a quota of 8 percent of new energy vehicles but has been met with resistance and high-level lobbying efforts.
reuters.com
Rejoices Hyundai Motor UK president and CEO Tony Whitehorn. Sales of the Ioniq have exceeded expectations, especially the hybrid variant sells.
fleetnews.co.uk
“Ioniq is a door-opener for us.”
BMW launches second wave of electrification.
BMW CEO Harald Krüger at the annual press conference in Munich announced not only “the biggest model offensive ever” but also affirmed the carmakers commitment to electric mobility. “There is no way back,” he said. And thus, all brands and series will be electrified.
Read moreHarald Krüger, Mark Fields, Gyoo-Heon Choi.
As BMW is looking to increase sales of electric cars by 15 to 25 percent by 2025, BMW CEO Harald Krüger told reporters that the company will continue to invest in its i sub-brand and slowly transfer the technology to group brands.
autonews.com
Ford CEO Mark Fields says the carmaker will work with President-elect Donald Trump to keep jobs in the U.S., if the government relaxes emission standards. He still doesn’t see a market for electric vehicles and apparently hasn’t learned anything from Tesla. Not even that demand will come if the supply is there.
bloomberg.com
“We will be very clear in the things we’d like to see.”
Hyundai Motorsport president Gyoo-Heon Choi hinted that the carmaker is looking to promote its new performance arm, named N, by betting on motorsport. While he is also looking at the electric racing series, he says it might not be financially viable for another few years.
autocar.co.uk
“We are also thinking about other areas, like Formula E.”Harald Krüger, Peter Rawlinson, Lex Kerssemakers.
BMW CEO Harald Krueger says “a new era of individual mobility is about to begin.” He sees the Bavarian carmaker driving innovation in the mobility sector and becoming a leading tech company. Electric and plug-in hybrid cars will account for 25 percent of sales in ten years.
autonews.com
Peter Rawlinson, chief technology officer at Lucid Motors (formerly Atieva) and former chief engineer of the Tesla Model S, explains why his new employer with its innovative battery technology will jump to the front of the line of shaping mobility in the future.
caranddriver.com
“The advent of the Uber and Lyft model is going to demand an electric car which can be rapidly charged and is tolerant of rapid, repeated fast charging.”
Volvo’s U.S. CEO Lex Kerssemakers says that while people still want big cars, efficiency has become a priority. He therefore declared the “era of big cylinders” as over.
businessinsider.de
“We started to talk about electrification in 2008 when we took the decision to go for four cylinders. Fuel efficiency is huge, that’s why we went for the four-cylinder turbos and electrification first. After that, we move to full electric, in 2018 or 2019. It is the future, let’s face it.”Stefan Knirsch, Sergio Marchionne, Harald Krüger.
Audi’s head of development Stefan Knirsch confirms that the German automaker will make in-house build electric drivetrains one of its core competences. He does, however, not see the diesel engine as being dead quite yet.
autonews.com
“It may appear today as if all e-motors are the same, but they aren’t. They are at a development stage similar to where combustion engines were in the 1960s or ’70s.”
Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said in an Interview that a hybrid version of a topless LaFerrari Spider is in the pipelines. But pure EVs are still out of the question.
automobilemag.com
“There is nothing Tesla does that we cannot also do. We build cars, sell them, and are still able to pay the bills. But I’m not even sure you can recover all of your costs — let alone generate a profit — through electrification.’
BMW CEO Harald Krüger says the company has enough qualified people to continue with its electric vehicle programme. Just recently, a handful of key staff had left BMW to join the EV start-up Future Mobility, which is financially backed by Chinese Foxconn.
euronews.com
Harald Krüger, Andy Palmer.
BMW CEO Harald Krüger explains his company’s thinking behind the autonomous Vision Next 100 concept car that was presented yesterday on the occasion of BMW’s centenary. Safe to say that its drive is electric in one way or another.
wsj.com
Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer talks about the cooperation with Chinese LeEco. The RapidE is confirmed for 2018, however, the joint developments might go further to include the likes of Faraday Future and in-car connectivity.
autonews.com
“In the future you could imagine ever-converging technologies between the two companies.”Harald Krüger, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Denis Naberezhnykh.
This is BMW CEO Harald Krüger’s response when asked whether Tesla is ahead in automated driving technology. Essentially, he downplays the Autopilot to an app. Does that mean he thinks of Tesla as a software company?
electrek.co
Arnold Schwarzenegger, former governor of California, takes a stand for electric cars on social media. He shows potential to become a real-world action hero.
facebook.com via fusion.net
“I don’t want to be like the last horse and buggy salesman who was holding out as cars took over the roads. I don’t want to be the last investor in Blockbuster as Netflix emerged. That’s exactly what is going to happen to fossil fuels.”
Denis Naberezhnykh, head of ultra-low emission vehicles for Transport Research Laboratory, says that fleet operators need to understand what they are using their vehicles for and then have a selection of ULEVs – probably a combination of plug-in hybrids, range-extended EVs and pure EVs.
fleetnews.co.uk
“My typical response is that if the worry is range, that can be overcome through a combination of using the right technology, whether that is the vehicle or the charger, and ensuring you have the correct utilisation of the vehicle. It’s an operational issue rather than a barrier that can’t be overcome from a technology point of view.”Harald Krüger, Alexis Georgeson, Kouji Toyoshima.
Predicts BMW CEO Harald Krüger, who at the same time suggested that the German carmaker will increase its electrification efforts by strengthening existing models and also introducing new ones to the line-up.
global.handelsblatt.com
Tesla spokeswoman Alexis Georgeson here crushes all hopes (or fears) to see a German Gigafactory anytime soon. The denial follows previous reports that Elon Musk had approached the German government with plans for a battery plant.
autoblog.com
“We have no current plans to build a battery factory in Germany. We’re not in active discussions.”
Kouji Toyoshima, head of engineering for the Toyota Prius, explains why the new generation Prius comes with a choice of either Li-ion or more traditional nickel-metal hydride batteries.
europe.autonews.com
“In higher grades, the mass is increased so it’s harder to get good fuel economy. So in those we will use lithium-ion batteries.”Diarmuid O'Connell, Harald Krüger, Neville S. Jackson.
Diarmuid O’Connell, Tesla VP for business development, is admirably determined and not shy to look down on those who are not, when he says that “compliance cars” remind him of “toasters” – ouch!
autonews.com, wsj.com
“It is not the vision of this company to produce a mass-market 35,000 dollar car by 2017 – it is the plan.”
BMW CEO Harald Krüger is obviously hinting at incentives but continued to stress the importance of the i-project for the company as a whole, regardless of sales.
bmwblog.com
Prof. Neville S. Jackson, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer at Ricardo, admits that gears improve efficiency. However, gains would only be around 5 percent and thus result in too small an increase of range for it to be worthwhile.
just-auto.com
“The complexity of adding more gears can deliver you an improvement in overall system efficiency because you are operating in that more efficient area of the electric motor for a longer period of time of the vehicle operation. So sometimes it is worth doing. It does depend on the motor design as they do have different characteristics.”Harald Krüger, Barry Beeston.
This is the prediction of Harald Krüger, BMW production chief, who has now increased production of the i3 to reach an annual output of 20,000 units.
bloomberg.com
Nissan GB corporate sales director Barry Beeston comments on the last financial year which saw Leaf sales increase by 132%. The demand was driven by fleet operators.
thegreencarwebsite.co.uk
“With the all-electric e-NV200 van being released later this year it is an exciting time for Nissan and we believe we will see a further increase in demand for the rest of this year and into 2015.”