Charging Ahead

BMW Group Asia’s Managing Director Mr. Christopher Wehner is confident that electromobility will drive the future

- Zara Zhuang

The Pandemic Will Permanently Change the Auto Industry,” proclaimed a New York Times headline, one of many generated in recent months on how the COVID-19 crisis could alter the world as we know it. While auto sales may take a hit due to the drop in numbers of people traveling for work or leisure, the Gray Lady’s Frankfurt-based European economics correspondent Jack Ewing explained, unexpected outcomes of nationwide shutdowns — from clearer skies to dips in air pollution levels — could nudge consumers towards mobility options that produce less direct emissions.

That’s the same approach the BMW Group has been taking with BMW i, the sub-brand focused on mobility of the future that BMW Group Asia Managing Director Mr. Christopher Wehner was personally involved in from 2008. “We are the automobile company with the most plug-in hybrid and electrified models in the current range,” he says. In its portfolio, the group will launch 25 new electrified models by 2023, two years earlier than a previously announced target, with more than half of those models being fully electric.

“I think electrification played a major role for the BMW Group,” Mr. Wehner continues. “We started very early with electrification in our range.” The company launched the i3 fully electric hatchback in 2013 and the i8 plug-in hybrid sports car in 2014, both of which were purpose-built for electromobility; now, the iX3 sports activity vehicle, iNext fully electric SUV, and all-electric i4 coupé are set to enter the market in 2021.

“Electrification is not only something that is rational — it’s really fun to drive an electric car,” Mr. Wehner says. “BMW stands for driving pleasure, and I guarantee you will experience the same driving pleasure if you drive an electric car.