2023-09-02 21:41:19
The German car manufacturer BMW presented its “Neue Klasse” project on Saturday to stay in the race for electric in the face of competition from Tesla and Asian manufacturers, very early on the eve of the opening of the show. car in Munich on Monday in Germany.
The Neue Klasse (new class) refers to a set of a new generation of six models of 100% electric cars that the group will launch over two years, from 2025, ranging from sedans to SUVs, announced Oliver Zipse, CEO of BMW, during the presentation of the concept of these future vehicles.
The models will first be manufactured at the group’s new factory in Hungary, then at its factories in Munich, China and Mexico, he added.
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An electric vehicle from the German manufacturer BMW at the Munich Motor Show.
Photo : afp via getty images / TOBIAS SCHWARZ
This new generation will allow 30% more autonomy, 30% faster charging, 25% more efficiency, the group said in a press release.
BMW has been announcing the launch of this Neue Klasse strategy since 2021, which it described today as a vision for more human, intelligent and eco-responsible mobility, without giving more details on the models or a date for the complete shift to electric. .
Oliver Zipse also mentioned the development of an electronic control box common to all of these future models and to the other brands of the group. BMW thus hopes to increase its margins and remain competitive in an increasingly competitive environment.
The backbone, the operating system, the way we operate our cars will be the same, across all our brands. This is how we will achieve economies of scale.
BMW’s i3 ranks only tenth among the most common electric cars on German roads, far behind models from Tesla and Volkswagen, according to calculations by the Center of Automotive Management (CAM).
BMW is one of the few manufacturers in the automotive industry not to have set a deadline for the end of combustion engines and to bet on hydrogen while continuing to work on traditional engines, while the roads of the European Union are preparing for carbon-free mobility by 2035.
In this context, the Neue Klasse must be a response to the success of Tesla and its Asian and particularly Chinese competitors, whose unprecedented presence at the Munich show demonstrates the desire to conquer the European market in the electric segment.
BMW isn’t behind, but it has to be good, because that playground isn’t empty, and about to get much more crowded from 2024, sums up industry expert Matthias Schmidt.
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