Why The Automaker Is Helming Pole Position In The Global Green Motoring Revolution

While electrified BMW and MINI cars are now a dominant presence on our roads, the company's legacy in electromobility dates as far back as 1972. BMW Group Asia's managing director LARS NIELSEN tells Yanni Tan why the automaker is helming pole position in the global green motoring revolution.

- Lars Nielsen

Lars Nielsen's move to Singapore some nine months ago coincided with an exciting sea change in the motoring scene. For many years now, local motorists have been used to seeing plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), especially BMW's iPerformance models. But after a slow start for fully electric vehicles (EVs), car owners began to embrace this new future in earnest last year in tandem with our government's bold move to have all vehicles on the roads powered by cleaner energy by 2040.

From end-2020 to end-2021, the EV ownership rate here had more than doubled, growing from 1,397 to 3,713 vehicles. At BMW Group Asia, which includes the MINI brand, sales of electrified vehicles increased threefold from 2020 to 2021. In the first four months of 2022, sales of PHEVs and EVs increased more than 360 per cent in the same period in 2021.

As carmakers began announcing their new line-up of all-electric vehicles and sustainability plans, the BMW Group had already established itself as a frontrunner - by virtue of its foresight in producing a concept electric car for the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, and taking the interim years prior to founding the BMW i brand in 2011 to further develop its expertise and technology.

In Singapore, BMW Group Asia was one of the first automotive companies to launch a fully electric vehicle: the BMW i3, in 2014. As of April 2022, four EV and five PHEV models are available across BMW and MINI in Singapore, with more to come by the end of the year. Globally, the BMW Group aims to sell more than 200,000 fully electric vehicles in 2022 at least double its sales in 2021.