{"id":532845,"date":"2024-04-17T08:02:06","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T06:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=532845"},"modified":"2024-04-17T09:28:57","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T07:28:57","slug":"how-bmw-is-beating-its-german-rivals-in-the-electric-car-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/motoring\/532845-how-bmw-is-beating-its-german-rivals-in-the-electric-car-game.html","title":{"rendered":"How BMW is beating its German rivals in the electric car game"},"content":{"rendered":"

For German luxury-car makers, being first to fail is proving valuable when it comes to electric vehicles. After a bruising initial crack at bringing EVs to market, BMW AG is lapping its rivals.<\/p>\n

In 2008, BMW engineers\u00a0set out\u00a0to develop an electric city car from scratch.<\/p>\n

Five years later, the company introduced the i3, a quirky four-seater with rear-hinged back doors and a frame made with carbon fibre.<\/p>\n

The car\u00a0looked unlike anything else in its portfolio, but with its steep sticker price and limited range, sales were muted. Disillusioned, BMW slowed its EV plans.<\/p>\n

Years spent soul-searching led to criticism that BMW was\u00a0stalling\u00a0on EVs.<\/p>\n

Lately, though, the company has been hitting the right notes with a much less radical approach.<\/p>\n

It designed EVs almost indistinguishable from their combustion engine-powered siblings, and is building them on the same factory line to contain costs.<\/p>\n

The approach is paying dividends: BMW shipped more than twice as many EVs than Audi in the first quarter, and roughly two-thirds more than Mercedes-Benz Group AG.<\/p>\n

\u201cBMW has been able to adapt its over one decade worth of battery-electric vehicle knowledge into its current model lineup with almost zero handicap,\u201d said Matthias Schmidt, an independent auto analyst near Hamburg.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have carried the Ultimate Driving Machine mantra over to their EVs.\u201d<\/p>\n

BMW\u2019s success is all the more impressive since it coincides with a broader slowdown in demand for EVs, particularly in Europe, where governments are reducing subsidies.<\/p>\n

Mercedes cited the phase-out of its Smart Fortwo two-seater and sluggish demand in Germany for falling EV wholesales in the first quarter.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Tesla Inc. reported its first year-on-year\u00a0global sales drop\u00a0since 2020.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Some of BMW\u2019s head start has to do with its rivals veering off course.<\/p>\n

Volkswagen AG\u2019s Audi has been falling behind in China, its biggest market, after failing to offer models that cater to local tastes.<\/p>\n

Software issues\u00a0delayed\u00a0one of its key battery models, the mid-size Q6 e-tron SUV, by two years.<\/p>\n

Mercedes\u2019s push further upmarket has been complicated by poor uptake of its top-end electric model, the \u20ac110,000 ($117,000) EQS sedan, which has been criticised for its low-slung roofline that crimps head- and legroom in the back.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a no-go, especially in\u00a0China, where many buyers prefer to be chauffeured.<\/p>\n

The manufacturer\u00a0slashed the price<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0of the EQS and has unveiled a redesigned version with more spacious \u201cexecutive\u201d rear seating, but the update won\u2019t reach customers in China until the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

BMW\u2019s EV\u00a0lineup is fresher and more attractive, said\u00a0Metzler analyst Pal Skirta.<\/p>\n

It ranges from the compact iX1 SUV\u00a0to the i7 luxury sedan, which comes with options including massage seats and a\u00a0large video screen\u00a0that folds down from the ceiling.<\/p>\n

\"\"

BMW i7 during South African unveiling<\/p><\/div>\n

To be sure, BMW is facing intense competition in China, where local automakers including BYD Co. are pushing into the\u00a0luxury segment.<\/p>\n

In Europe, BMW is offering the steepest rebates for premium EVs, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Michael Dean, meaning its volume push risks eroding\u00a0profitability.<\/p>\n

Both Mercedes and Audi are working on\u00a0new products\u00a0to be introduced from next year that are bound to shake up the competitive landscape.<\/p>\n

Still, chief executive officer Oliver Zipse has made some decisions that currently are giving the Munich-based automaker a leg up.<\/p>\n

Instead of investing billions in its own battery factories, BMW is sourcing cells from external suppliers including China\u2019s CATL, allowing the carmaker to respond flexibly to swings in demand.<\/p>\n

Its work on autonomous-driving technology and in-car software catered to Chinese customers bolstered its technology credentials in the biggest auto market, Skirta said.<\/p>\n

For its next iteration of EVs, BMW will go back to the future with a more radical redesign\u00a0\u2014\u00a0maybe not as drastic as what the i3 tried to do, but one that could change the dynamics yet again.<\/p>\n

Its Neue Klasse\u00a0SUV concept<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0unveiled last month\u00a0previewed a less cluttered interior, with key driver information projected at the base of the windshield.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the Neue Klasse design, BMW really focused on an interior that is more of a living environment,\u201d Skirta said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will be a selling point especially in China, where customers spend several hours a day in their cars.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BMW\u2019s success is all the more impressive since it coincides with a broader slowdown in demand for EVs, particularly in Europe, where governments are reducing subsidies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341034,"featured_media":504916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29366],"tags":[11385,1964,20717,93787,67290,93785,7953,60089,72072],"class_list":["post-532845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motoring","tag-audi","tag-bmw","tag-bmw-i3","tag-bmw-neue-klasse","tag-electric-vehicles-evs","tag-german-carmakers","tag-mercedes-benz","tag-oliver-zipse","tag-volkswagen-vw"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532845"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341034"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532845"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":532861,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532845\/revisions\/532861"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/504916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}