[hayes180]

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BMW responds to the recent report about BMW i defections (recap @ http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1252377)

From Rueters:

"BMW (BMWG.DE) Chief Executive Harald Krueger said the carmaker had enough staff to continue developing its cutting-edge electric vehicles program known as "Project i", despite recent defections of key staff to a Chinese electric vehicle startup.

"Overall four people have left the company, not all were working on the i project," Harald Krueger told analysts on a call to discuss first-quarter results.

BMW is developing a roadster version of its hybrid i8 supercar, as well as a next generation electric autonomous car which is known as iNext.

"R&D development of iNext will start now. And we have the people on board to do so," Krueger added.

Earlier this year, Carsten Breitfeld, Vice President Engineering, Head of the i8 Vehicle program, Dirk Abendroth, manager of BMW's "i" powertrain group, and Henrik Wenders, Vice President Product Management BMW "i", joined China's Future Mobility Corp, a startup backed by Tencent Holdings.

(Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Maria Sheahan)"

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bm...-idUSKCN0XU1EX

[Doctor///M]

Hope there's a lot more than an i8 spyder (that's not autonomous) in the works!

[DJKapeesh]

I Z5?

[Agent11br]

I have loved all my BMW's, and will continue to be an owner well into the future. I was hoping to see them much further along than they currently are with the i series.

That said, this to me is a clear indication that the electric technology and lineup expansion is not a high priority; instead, continuing solid sales growth and expanding their lineup into every number available 1-7 (8?) continues to be in focus. Hard to blame them, revenue is what supports R&D for projects like the i series.

[aajami]

Can we get a comment about the state of the Toyota partnership?? Talk about vaporware!

[DCG]

That just confirms and shows that the i Series is not going in the right direction or has outright stalled. The i Series is a genius concept and the technology is amazing but they need to made it for what people need and vehicles that look and function more like the standard BMW lineup.

This amazing technology is only good if it's used in the right platform and not just for show cars. Put this technology into an M4 an now we're talking.

[3M TAPE]

Was spending billions of millions dollars on Project i worth it?
I feel like this whole electrification thing is going down hill.
This could be BMW's 2nd big failure after the Rover acquisition.
I hear i3 and i8 sales are struggling badly..

[raysspl]

BMW will find other talented folks to pick-up where others left off

[Viffermike]

See ... this is a common knee-jerk PR spin-doctoring trick:

After a specific something starts happening, issue a statement denying that the specific something is actually happening. Problem is, the only reason the statement was issued is because that happening is, in fact, happening.

(Or somesuch ... )

Basically it's an admission of effect from a cause. The spin applied is to imply that the effect isn't as others are portraying it. But it is.

Rock on, BMW i. Next?

[Wolf]

Originally Posted by BigMacMeal

Was spending billions of millions dollars on Project i worth it?
I feel like this whole electrification thing is going down hill.
This could be BMW's 2nd big failure after the Rover acquisition.
I hear i3 and i8 sales are struggling badly..

All went down the drain. Tesla wins

[clbmw]

Originally Posted by Doctor///M

Hope there's a lot more than an i8 spyder (that's not autonomous) in the works!

+1

[fecurtis]

Originally Posted by BigMacMeal

Was spending billions of millions dollars on Project i worth it?
I feel like this whole electrification thing is going down hill.
This could be BMW's 2nd big failure after the Rover acquisition.
I hear i3 and i8 sales are struggling badly..

But the CFRP tech is already in the next gen 7 Series and will continue to find it's way in other models. That innovation came from i.

[MSport1223]

Originally Posted by BigMacMeal

Was spending billions of millions dollars on Project i worth it?
I feel like this whole electrification thing is going down hill.
This could be BMW's 2nd big failure after the Rover acquisition.
I hear i3 and i8 sales are struggling badly..

You're right about the sales. They're sitting on lots for a large amount of time. We'll see what they have planned for future i product, but the innovations from it have been seen in the 330e and X5 40e already, so it's not just the i cars that are innovative.

[FogCityM3]

+1 Hit the nail on the head

Also the quote "R&D Development of iNext will start now...."

Notable for two reasons: 1) R&D stands for Research & Development, so basically is saying Research and Development Development of iNext will start....' seems like its just a bunch of marketing people throwing around terms without realizing their redundant meaning; 2) all of a sudden the time for iNext is right now, once key people leave, basically a glaring admission that they are far behind in autonomous technology vis-a-vis Tesla.

So weird.

Originally Posted by Viffermike

See ... this is a common knee-jerk PR spin-doctoring trick:

After a specific something starts happening, issue a statement denying that the specific something is actually happening. Problem is, the only reason the statement was issued is because that happening is, in fact, happening.

(Or somesuch ... )

Basically it's an admission of effect from a cause. The spin applied is to imply that the effect isn't as others are portraying it. But it is.

Rock on, BMW i. Next?

[antzcrashing]

Originally Posted by fecurtis

But the CFRP tech is already in the next gen 7 Series and will continue to find it's way in other models. That innovation came from i.

Yeah that amazing innovation that makes the cars more expensive to buy and insure, and with negligible mpg improvements.

[scoobysaurus]

IMO they messed up with I. It would've been so much better from a marketing standpoint to have an I sub brand making "I" versions of regular cars much like there's an M version for almost every BMW. This way, the awful looking I3 wouldn't exist and instead we'd have a 3 series that runs on electric or hybrid power called an I3. Pure I cars should've been electric to compete with Tesla and i-performance should've been hybrids.

For example, the 5 series lineup could look like this:

520i
530i
535 i-Sport
540 M-Sport
i5
M5

[CurbBender'90]

Wasted money that could have kept M products with V8's and improve in that division. I agree about placing the hybrid technology in the regular series or M line up and building into that to compete because that I3 is pointless. I've seen only one on the road and it was in a driveway....

[Agent11br]

Originally Posted by scoobysaurus

IMO they messed up with I. It would've been so much better from a marketing standpoint to have an I sub brand making "I" versions of regular cars much like there's an M version for almost every BMW. This way, the awful looking I3 wouldn't exist and instead we'd have a 3 series that runs on electric or hybrid power called an I3. Pure I cars should've been electric to compete with Tesla and i-performance should've been hybrids.

For example, the 5 series lineup could look like this:

520i
530i
535 i-Sport
540 M-Sport
i5
M5

This was exactly what I was thinking

[uhn2000]

Originally Posted by scoobysaurus

IMO they messed up with I. It would've been so much better from a marketing standpoint to have an I sub brand making "I" versions of regular cars much like there's an M version for almost every BMW. This way, the awful looking I3 wouldn't exist and instead we'd have a 3 series that runs on electric or hybrid power called an I3. Pure I cars should've been electric to compete with Tesla and i-performance should've been hybrids.

For example, the 5 series lineup could look like this:

520i
530i
535 i-Sport
540 M-Sport
i5
M5

Brilliant point, they really deviated too much from their core marketing streams and unfortunately it was a flop no matter how you look at it. I have seen dozens of i8s and i3s sitting on lots..