Sudden turnaround will see the i3 end production in July.
In a second unexpected u-turn, BMW has backtracked on its initial confirmation of continuing with the i3 until 2024.
A model that has remained largely out of the limelight since its future become the topic of speculation three years ago, an unnamed BMW spokesperson has reportedly been quoted by Britain’s Autocar as saying that the i3 will come to an end in July this year.
Last updated in 2017, four years after its market debut, the i3, which has seen global sales of 200 000 units by October last year according to Autocar, will surpass 250 000 units by July before the Leipzig plant shifts its attention to the second generation Mini Countryman from the second quarter of this year.
The sudden turnaround comes on the back of BMW Management Board Member of Sales and Marketing, Pieter Nota, telling the Financial Times in 2019 that no plans for an i3 successor are being drawn-up in lieu of the brand’s broader electrical switch beyond the dedicated i brand.
In a subsequent contradiction less than a month later, then newly appointed CEO Oliver Zipse told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung that the i3 has reached “icon” status and won’t be going away soon.
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“We are growing with the i3 every year – in Europe this year by around 20 per cent. The investments have been written off, we earn money with every i3. Why [then] should we give up [on] this car, which is now at the height of its time? We are sure that the i3 still has great potential,” Zipse said at the time.
According to Autocar though, the i3 will have a replacement in a shape of the iX1 that is expected to debut in 2023 as the second model co-developed between Munich and Great Wall Motors (GWM).
Unlike the i3 that rode on the bespoke DriveLife platform, the iX1 will make use of the FAAR architecture underpinning the X1 and 1 Series, which will be passed-on to a rumoured all-electric Mini anticipated to revive the Paceman nameplate.
While the name remains unofficial at present, the new model is expected to slot-in between the Countryman and the long-rumoured flagship Mini that is tipped to bring the Traveller name back when it bows in 2023 or 2024.
Expect clearer details to become apparent over the coming months.
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