BMW Group will open up a campus for autonomous driving this year and will present a number of pure-electric concept vehicles that will go into series production.
Board chairman Harald Kruger told the group’s annual accounts press conference that these will include the first all-electric BMW, the iX3, a new technology flagship, the iNext, the BMW i Vision Dynamics, which he announced at the Geneva Show as the BMWi4.
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He added: “We will produce both the iNext and the i4 in Germany. Our future is definitely electric. With our electric and plug-in hybrid models we are already the clear number one in Europe.”
Kruger said that diesels will continue to play a role although the company sold fewer of these last year in both Germany and the UK.
“Diesels produce less CO2 than petrol vehicles, but despite this we were still able to lower our CO2 emissions in Europe to 122g/km. For us, sustainable mobility also includes production and the supply chain. More than 80% of the electricity we purchase worldwide already comes from renewable energies.
“In Europe we achieved completely CO2-free production for the first time in 2017. By 2020 we also plan this for our locations worldwide.”
Kruger said that a number of strategic decisions will begin to bear fruit this year. “The acquisition of Parkmobile was announced in January, making the group the leading provider of digital parking solutions. The acquisition of the car sharing joint venture Drive Now closed this month.
“These two transactions give the BMW Group control over a wide range of strategic options for enhancing its range of mobility services in a field set to make a crucial contribution to sustainable urban mobility going forward. We aim to have 100m active customers by 2025.”
