BMW i3 successor a question of when, not if – report

The BMW i3 hasn’t been much of a sales success globally, but the electric vehicle’s project manager strongly believes a second generation will launch. He would not confirm a launch window, however.

Speaking with industry journal Automotive News, Heinrich Schwackhoefer said despite slow sales compared to rivals like Tesla, he expects the BMW i-range will live on.

“The ‘i’ sub-brand is stable and you can count on a successor to the i3, but I cannot say when that will be,” he said.

“It’s not the sentiment within the company that it’s been a failure, absolutely not at all”.

However, a report in September suggested the model’s slow sales caused the company to re-evaluate its continued investment into electrically-driven vehicles, due to high development costs and lacklustre sales.

Since launching in late 2013, the Bavarian automaker has sold a little over 60,000 units of the i3 globally, which pales in comparison to Tesla’s 107,000 Model S sales over a similar period – especially considering the price premium for the American electric sedan.

In August BMW released an upgraded version of the i3, with a higher-density lithium-ion battery which boosts the standard EV’s range to 200km (up from 160km), while the range-extended variant claims 320km.

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