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Chairman says BMW will make 100,000 electric vehicles a year by 2020

We know demand for the BMW i3 has been high, both in the US and Europe. It appears that BMW's crystal ball is showing a steady increase in interest between now and 2020. By that year, according to Norbert Reithofer, chairman of the board of management for BMW AG, the company expects to build 100,000 units a year. That's not quite as EVs many as Tesla is talking about for 2020 (500,000), but it would represent quite an increase from the roughly 20,000 units that the best-selling plug-in vehicles moved in 2013. Reithofer told Automotive News that plug-in vehicle production would steadily increase by 2018 before hitting full stride at the end of the decade. He also made sure to clarify that there was external pressure to make 100,000 EVs a year: "we will be forced to build them in a six digits figure to comply with stricter emission rules." The plug-in electric vehicles are just one part of BMW's effort to reduce emissions. In prepared remarks delivered at the company's annual accounts press conference (available in full below), Reithofer said, "Customer demand [for i3] is exceeding our expectations. ... We believe the electric motor is a future technology for zero-emission driving in urban areas. Battery technology will continue to progress. ... When it comes to emission-free long-distance driving, however, electric cars featuring hydrogen fuel cell technology offer great potential." He didn't say how many fuel cell cars BMW expects to make and sell in 2020, but BMW's collaboration with Daimler and Renault-Nissan is supposed to launch the "world's first affordable, mass-market fuel cell electric vehicles as early as 2017." Statement and presentation by Dr. Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Annual Accounts Press Conference 2014 19.03.2014 Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen! The core task of a company is to safeguard its future. This means we must ensure that our products and services are always inspiring our customers. We need to think ahead and continually take our business model to the next level. We also have to remain profitable so we can invest and bring new ideas to life. Our ambition of the BMW Group is: Always to consider the long term in all our planning, to follow our own path successfully, and to be a pioneer in our industry. Our business model is clear: Individual mobility in the premium segment.

BMW M1 poised to set new records at auction

A rare BMW M1 with exceptionally low mileage is set to break records when it goes up for auction next month. The Bavarian supercar is one of just 450 examples made. It has only 424 miles on the clock after decades in storage, putting it in prime position to draw heavy bidding. The legendary M1 was the first vehicle made by the M division and brought together some of the biggest names in the business. The chassis was designed by Dallara, the body by Giorgetto Giugiaro, and development was carried out (at least initially) by Lamborghini. It was the first mid-engined supercar BMW made. The original idea was to homologate the M1 for racing. But when the FIA changed the rules, BMW started the Procar series that put F1 drivers behind the wheel of racing-spec versions of the M1 ahead of the European grands prix. That put BMW and its M division on the map, earning the M1 a special place in the history books. BMW only made 450 examples, of which 399 were road-going versions like the one you see here. And it's a gem, to be sure. Chassis number WBS59910004301426 was delivered new in Arctic white with black checkered upholstery to a dealer in Italy, which never sold it. A broker in Pennsylvania acquired it for baseball legend Pete Rose, who never took delivery. And so it sat in the dealer's warehouse for over three decades. A friend finally managed to convince that US dealer to part with it. And after replacing a handful of soft components (with only original parts, of course), the current owner is now putting it up for sale at RM Sotheby's upcoming auction in New York. Given the pristine condition of this particular example and its low mileage, the auctioneers expect it will fetch between $800,000 and $1 million. That could stand to make this the most expensive M1 ever sold. According to Sports Car Market, the current record for an M1 stands at $854,000 paid in 2011 for a racing-spec Procar with livery designed by Frank Stella. The most ever paid for a road-going example, however, rests at $605k. This example, then, stands not only to obliterate the M1 auction records, but elevate the iconic supercar into 507 (and even 328) territory among the most valuable BMWs ever made. It may, however, have a tough time getting the attention it deserves, considering some of the other machinery RM has lined up for the Driven By Disruption sale.

BMW slapped with discrimination suit by EEOC

According to a report from CNNMoney, BMW has been hit with a lawsuit from the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after revised criminal background check policies resulted in the dismissal of 88 contractors, 70 of whom (that's about 80 percent) were black. A total of 645 contractors were required to submit to background checks at BMW's facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina after BMW switched contract companies at its plant.
Though the 88 persons who were not rehired by the new contractor all had criminal records, that may not necessarily be a legal way to screen applicants, as the EEOC counters: "BMW's policy has no time limit with regard to convictions. The policy is a blanket exclusion without any individualized assessment of the nature and gravity of the crimes, the ages of the convictions, or the nature of the claimants' respective positions."
BMW's actions were in violation of the Civic Rights Act of 1964, according to the EEOC, because they utilized "a criminal conviction policy that disproportionately screened out African-Americans." A recent bulletin offering guidance from the EEOC on the Civil Rights Act can be found here, but the EEOC's stance on the issue has been the same for years: "Since issuing its first written policy guidance in the 1980s regarding the use of arrest and conviction records in employment decisions, the EEOC has advised employers that under certain circumstances, their use of that information to deny employment opportunities could be at odds with Title VII."