The head of sales at BMW is confident Tesla's reign over the EV market is over, as the German automaker is investing heavily into electric powertrains.
Tesla has led the way in the EV market for years and continues to outsell its rivals. But this year, BMW plans to overtake Tesla, with the goal of selling 200,000 EVs. This is double the amount it sold last year, and is all part of the brand's big plan for at least 50 percent of its cars to be fully electric by 2030.
Speaking at a New York press event, BMW Group sales chief, Pieter Nota, agreed that Tesla "had a unique selling point for some time" but says "that's over."
To compete against Tesla, the German automaker launched the i4 and iX and will soon also release the i7. Next year, the brand's EV range will continue to grow, with the introduction of an electric 5-Series and an electric Mini Countryman.
READ MORE
“We will push the company to the limits of production capability,” says chief executive Oliver Zipse. “Demand will be surging. We already see that with the iX, with the i4.”
But it won't come easy, as supply issues continue to be problematic for the auto industry.
And, interestingly, while BMW says it will rival Tesla in the EV market, it is yet to announce it'll become a fully electric brand, as many other companies have. According to Zipse, charging infrastructure isn't moving fast enough to keep up with the demand for EVs.
“If you want to be resilient, you have to be flexible,” he says. “We think the [EV] infrastructure will not move as fast as market demand.”
Earlier this year, Zipse said in a closed-door meeting with a group of politicians that phasing out the combustion engine too soon won't be beneficial for "the climate or anyone else."
He said the phase-out of the combustion engine must be a gradual and planned process. "The largest market segment in absolute terms by a wide margin in Germany, but also in Europe and worldwide, is the internal combustion engine," he says. "Before you simply shut something like that down within eight or ten years, you have to know well what you’re doing."
"If you try to ban this technology in Germany and Europe, but the world market is not even that far, you will lose this technology in the world market as well. That’s why we also warn against doing this too early and not giving the transformation a chance to develop with the markets. It would be harmful to simply give up a technology in which you have a global market position without need. I don’t think that would help the climate or anyone else."