BMW CEO says Europe's ICE engine ban is "no longer realistic"

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by Nahlem

BMW and other European car manufacturers have had ample time to prepare for the transition to electric vehicles (EVs). It is ridiculous for them to now express concerns at the eleventh hour, especially when facing intensified competition from China. If they find themselves unable to compete in the global EV market, it signals a significant issue within the EU's automotive industry. 2035 is far away get your stuff together and you will be fine. No more investments in ICE engines you have what you have keep that and now move all resources to BEVs...

These manufacturers seemed to treat the shift to sustainable vehicles lightly or as a joke, consistently releasing subpar models while generating substantial profits from their (ICE) cars...

To Oliver Zipse and his industry peers: prioritizing research and development in EVs over expanding the line-up of "X" variants could have positioned you more favourably today. The BMW i3, launched in 2013-2014, was a pioneering effort, but progress seemed to halt thereafter...

The auto industry has had sufficient time to adapt and should not expect concessions due to delayed action. The EU car sector must innovate and stand independently without relying on protective measures. Achieving environmental goals is feasible if companies redirect resources from traditional fuels to sustainable alternatives—a transition that should have commenced long ago...

They have had enough time they are like spoiled children now all grown up...

ALL of these should have been a signal to the EU car industry MOVE away from ICE sooner then later...

Oliver and the rest of EU automotive industry should just grow up and start performing. How much of their money could have been spent on BEVs instead of ICE engines.

[edited the wall of text]

The problem is thinking like a Politician and not like an engineer, physicist, chemist, and businessman. Writing words on a piece of paper just doesn't make it so. A global shift to EV is just not realistic. The vision is flawed because no human activity is done for the benefit of the planet's climate; it's a flawed concept.

Industrialists who actually create products rather than legislation have a realistic view of the world. When Government drives the development of the automobile the result is the Yogo and Trabant, not BMWs. Politicians don't understand the concept of "profit motive".

The i3 was not a sales success and did not generate profit, which is why it was dropped.

[David70]

It's best for BMW to say what he's saying so anything he says I consider where and why he is saying it. If I tell my boss some giant project I am given isn't doable, he would also consider the possibility I am saying what is best for me.

On the other hand, I agree 2035 isn't realistic, also understand any major market change will come with a lot of negatives for some. Just resisting it won't change the final outcome. China seeming to be far ahead of the rest in this market I'm sure scares the established ICE manufacturers.

From a selfish, doing what is best for the manufacturers in our country it's a mistake to decide now that EV's won't work long term, go all in on what we are doing now. If we are wrong we will be out of the market. In the 70's U.S. manufacturers were slow to adapt to small, fuel effiicient cars, Japanese were far ahead, we let the Japanese take a huge part of the market.