While other car makers are beginning to concentrate most of their resources on developing electric powertrains, BMW is being criticized by its top labor chief for its lack of progress.
According to Bloomberg, Manfred Schoch expressed a public sharp disapproval towards the company’s leadership, saying that BMW risks falling behind its rivals.
“Management has been slow to decide on investing in more electric models. The carmaker must expand its range to include electric versions of its core lineup, including 3-, 5- and 7-Series sedans. Anything else would be detrimental to the business,” he said.
Although BMW has two full-electric vehicles to its name and a third in the pipeline, the German car manufacturer doesn’t allocate its resources to battery development. Furthermore, the i5 isn’t expected to arrive on the market sooner than 2021 – at which point Audi, Porsche, Tesla (d’oh) and Volkswagen will have more than one state-of-the-art product in their line-up.
Volkswagen, for instance, plans to introduce 30 battery-powered vehicles by 2020, while Mercedes plans at least 10 such models.
“Management must invest in electric mobility now” to remain competitive in the future,” concluded Schoch.
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