BMW i3’s clock is ticking as the German automaker confirmed that it will stop selling the electric car in the US this year.
The end of the i3 comes as BMW is launching the i4 and iX electric vehicles.
BMW launched the i3 in 2013, which was somewhat early in the resurgence of electric vehicles.
It gave BMW a leadership position in the electric transition, but the automaker ended up sitting on that leadership and letting it slip by not launching a new all-electric vehicle for seven years.
Now, the German automaker is finally ready to expand its electric lineup.
Outside of the US, it has already launched the BMW iX3, and now, it is following it up with the BMW i4 and BMW iX coming to the US early next year.
While BMW has previously committed to producing the BMW i3 until 2024, it never said if it would keep selling it in the US, where sales haven’t been really impressive.
Now, we learned that BMW Blog has obtained dealer communications confirming that the automaker will stop selling the BMW i3 in the US by next month:
“The writing was on the wall: the late bloomer BMW i3 will soon stop its production for the U.S. market. According to a BMW dealer bulletin, the final production for the electric i3 hatchback is scheduled for July 2021. Over the last 12 months, the i3 inventory for the U.S. was at its lowest point and customers often had difficulties securing a production slot. The latest dealer info suggests that there are only around 180 production slots remaining.”
This is not surprising considering BMW i3 sales in the US peaked back in 2015 with 11,000 units, and they have since been rapidly decreasing.
However, the electric hatchback is still doing fine in some European markets, including its home market of Germany, where it should be sold for a few more years if the automaker sticks to its previous commitment.
But it does look like the end is near for the weird-looking little BMW i3, which is not going to break some sale records with around 200,000 units delivered globally since its launch, but it did make history as the first vehicle with a full carbon fiber frame.
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Author: Fred Lambert
Source: Electrek
