BMW sales and marketing chief Ian Robertson is unfazed about slow sales of electric vehicles.

He said: “I am conscious of what is happening in the market but our cars will have a number of unique selling points. As our catch line says, the i3 is ‘Born Electric’ – design and developed from the start as an EV.

“We have a also taken a holistic approach with the carbon fibre bodies of our i vehicles made using hydro-electric power on the west coast of the US and shipped to our factory in Leipzig which uses wind and solar power.

“But make no mistake, legislation around the world is moving in one direction in terms of CO2 and that is downwards. We will see the requirement for lower emissions lower dramatically between 2015 and 2025.”

Robertson was in London to launch the company’s first i dealership in posh Park Lane. It will sell new sub brand i models, the i3 electric car and i8 plug-in hybrid which are due for launch in around 18 months.

The i8, he said, would be in the super car segment priced at around GBP100,000.

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