BMW considers moving up i4 production

According to a media report, BMW brings forward the production start of the all-electric i4 from the year’s end to August or September. This means BMW could roll-out the first cars in Germany in 2021. In China, meanwhile, BMW has significantly reduced the price of its iX3 electric SUV.

The i4, as is well known, is being built in Munich. Preparations for the production of the all-electric Gran Coupé started last summer. For six weeks, vehicle production was suspended during the Bavarian summer holidays to retool the existing production facilities so that in future the BMW 3 Series Sedan, the BMW 3 Series Touring, both with combustion engines and hybrid drive, the BMW M3 and the all-electric BMW i4 can be manufactured on the same line.

As the German Handelsblatt now reports about group circles, the start of production of the i4 is to be brought forward to August or September. Until now, it was said that the model would be built in Munich from the end of the year. The first deliveries would therefore still be realistic in 2021. The electric motors and high-voltage batteries for the i4 will be supplied from the new e-drive production competence centre at the Dingolfing plant. The battery cells assembled there will be supplied by companies such as CATL and Samsung SDI – and in future also by Northvolt in Europe.

In China, BMW has reduced its iX3 electric SUV price significantly – from 470,000 yuan to 399,900 yuan, or from 60,000 to 51,000 euros. The Munich-based company has thus cut the price by around 15 per cent. The price of the higher equipment version of the BMW iX3 is also being lowered: from 510,000 to 439,900 yuan (from around 65,200 to 56,300 euros). According to various media reports, the intention is to bring the car into closer competition with vehicles from Tesla and Chinese start-ups like Nio. Tesla, for its part, had recently lowered the local prices of Model 3 and Model Y.

The Munich-based company activated the online configurator for the iX3 last month in their native Germany and published the associated price and equipment list. The starting price is slightly lower than originally announced, namely 66,300 euros for the Inspiring variant. The higher equipment variant Impressive is listed from 71,800 euros. The German environmental bonus of 7,500 euros can still be deducted from the official prices. The first cars will be delivered at the end of January.

handelsblatt.com (in German, i4), cnbc.com, bmw.com.cn (both China)