BMW May Join The Micro Car Fray

M Series also headed for India

March 12, 2008 06:37

Fresh off recent success in India, BMW has announced the possibility of releasing a new micro car there. Their new concept programme would likely explore a truly luxury version of the micro car class. BMW India President Peter Kronschnabl confirmed that the company has already completed a study on a potential new product launch, but would not say what the company has planned.

According to the PTI news agency, Kronschnabl said, "I cannot say when the car would be launched in India. The market analysis for the launch is over and the discussions are on with the headquarters."

This past February, WCF reported on BMW redeveloping the classic Isetta bubble car, possibly with hybrid technology and high-performance petrol and diesel turbo engines. An all-electric city car is also a possibility. Our artist's rendering of the Isetta can be seen in the gallery. The Isetta, a highly successful microcar from the early 1950s, would likely be built on a platform that could realistically fight the Nano on its own. Add in the possibility of better performance and greener technologies and you could see a higher sticker price justified by a reduced operating cost.

The Indian press reported that Kronschnabl said a BMW micro car could cost around 2,000,000 Indian Rupees, or a bit over $49,000. However, it seems either the press misquoted the BMW executive, the executive misspoke, or the BMW Micro Car is not intended to compete in the same class as the Nano. It is pretty hard to imagine BMW selling a car slotted well below the 1-Series for the same price as a 535i Sedan.

After requesting clarification, a BMW spokesperson replied by e-mail, saying, "There are no plans to develop a Micro Car competing with the Tata Nano. Currently, BMW is thinking within a special project about several different ways and opportunities for the future mobility, but it's far too early to comment on any details, neither the size of these different concepts nor engine, price or anything like that."

The tiny Tata Nano squeezes four people into a car that retails for about $2,500. GM is supposedly working on a similar project in a Chinese joint venture. Their car would cost around $3,500. Toyota has recently hinted at entering the Micro Car Wars after announcing a huge expansion of their Bangalore, India, plant.

Kronschnabl spoke at an event marking the launch of the BMW M3 in the Indian market. After selling almost 1,400 units in India last year, BMW has authorized the increase of local production there to 3,000 units - a 76% increase. Of the BMW vehicles sold in India last year, 80% were locally made 3- and 5-series models.

In addition to the M3, BMW plans to further market the 6- and 7-series, the X3, X5, the 6 and 7 Individual Series, and other M models, according to a BMW statement released last month.

Source: Press Trust of India (PTI)

BMW is poised to give the go-ahead to a tiny Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) that will help to revolutionise city-centre driving. The rear-engined city car could be called Isetta and will first arrive in American showrooms in 2012.

The project was created because of new Californian regulations (soon to be copied by 12 other US states) which require big car makers to sell between a few hundred and a few thousand ZEVs every year from 2012.

However, global sales of the new model are also likely, because BMW has decided that the concept will be ideal for sale in cities all around the world. Indeed, many European cities have already established low-emissions zones.

BMW chief Norbert Reithofer recently said the company “would be obliged to sell a Zero Emissions Vehicle under the US regulations and that a battery car was “the most likely answer”.

Reithofer also said that BMW could have built just a few hundred cars to meet the US regulations but admitted that the company was also wondering if it could use the basic concept “not just for an electric car but also for a range of city cars”. These cars would use petrol and diesel motors, and could even feature BMW motorcycle engines.

The Californian regulations state that ZEVs can either be a fuel cell or battery-powered vehicle with a range of over 200 miles, or an Advanced Technology, Partial Zero-Emission Vehicle (AT-PZEV) powered by a hybrid powertrain, by compressed natural gas (CNG) or by a methanol fuel cell.

BMW has yet to decide what badge the new Isetta will wear. “It could be BMW, Mini or another name,” Reithofer said. He also said that “co-operation [with another car maker] is possible” but stated that BMW would decide by the end of 2008 “whether to go it alone”.

Because the volumes are relatively low and the potential investment is high, sources in Germany say that BMW could also team up with Mercedes’ Smart division to work on a new vehicle.

BMW is said to be looking seriously at basing the new Isetta on a small zero-emissions concept developed by Austrian engineering powerhouse Magna Steyr. Magna already builds the BMW X3 and will build the Aston Martin Rapide.

Hilton Holloway