Germany’s BMW will sell its battery powered i3 city car at a lower-than-expected base price to stoke demand for its first electric vehicle as the luxury car maker aims to keep rivals Audi and Mercedes-Benz at bay.
Munich-based BMW said the four-person i3, developed from scratch, will start at €34,950 when it goes on sale in Germany in November.
That will be a week before unveilings planned in London, New York and Beijing.
Reuters Newsagency reports analysts expected a base price of just below €40,000.
BMW, pitching the i3 even as demand for battery technology has disappointed because of costs, weight and concern about range, is targeting second-car buyers in urban regions in the world’s main vehicle markets, sales chief Ian Robertson said earlier.
The world’s biggest luxury carmaker has not given a sales target for the i3.
Reuters reports Mr Robertson has said it aims to be “a significant player” in the market for electric vehicles which he said was about 150,000 cars worldwide in 2012.
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The price is very competitive,” Frankfurt-based Commerzbank analyst Sascha Gommel said, citing an anticipated range of €37,000-€40,000.
“It seems realistic that BMW could grab a decent share of the electric-car market” with the i3.
BMW created a separate “i” sub-brand to market electric vehicles and is counting on the i3 and the i8 plug-in hybrid sports car, due to hit dealerships early next year, to give it an edge in innovation, a key attribute for premium car manufacturers.
Reuters reports BMW group, which also includes Mini and Rolls-Royce, is stepping up investment on new vehicles and technologies as German rivals Audi and Mercedes-Benz seek to snatch the luxury-sales crown by the end of the decade.
Volkswagen-owned Audi, which eclipsed Mercedes-Benz as the world’s number two premium-car maker in 2011, narrowed the gap to BMW to no more than 24,000 cars after six months from 85,000 at the end of 2012.
Both of BMW’s electric cars use carbon fibre and reinforced plastics on a lightweight aluminium chassis and parts, to trim weight and battery costs.
The i3 will also offer a range extender permitting the car to drive over 300 kilometres, more than double the normal distance on battery alone.