- Senior BMW executive told journalists combustion engines will never disappear.
- Jochen Goller’s comments were later toned down by BMW’s press team.
- BMW claims Goller referred to differing speeds at which markets develop.
We now know that combustion engines won’t completely disappear from automakers’ European lineups in 2035, as some previously feared, because some hybrids will live on. But according to one senior BMW suit, ICE hasn’t just been given a 10-year reprieve. It’s immortal.
“ICE and combustion engines will never disappear. Never!” So said Jochen Goller, BMW’s head of customer, brand and sales in a recent roundtable interview at the Munich Motor Show. This is the same show, remember, where BMW unveiled the electric iX3, the first of the Neue Klasse vehicles that will guide the brand forward for the next decade or more.
How Serious Was He?
Was Goller serious? He obviously didn’t mean that gasoline power will be around when cars can fly, but humans don’t need them because they’ve mastered teleportation (BMW’s pod will naturally deliver ultimate teleportation pleasure) and half of us are living on Mars. No one with half a brain believes that. But was he suggesting that combustion engines will still be around 40, 50, or 60 years from now?
Related: ‘We’ll Be Driving Full Speed Into The Wall’ Warns Mercedes Chief On Europe’s EV Future
BMW’s press team was quick to temper any excitement over Goller’s Braveheart-like pro-petrol stance. According to AMS magazine, a BMW spokesperson explained that the comments were made in a “humorous context. They added that the sales chief was trying to highlight that the take-up of new drive technology varies dramatically between different countries and regions.
Numbers Tell the Story
Unfortunately for those of us in Europe and the US, that take-up is happening more quickly than in some other markets, even if in some cases it’s not happening as fast as automakers like BMW once hoped. Electric cars now account for a fifth of all new car sales in Europe, and though their share in the US is smaller, mass acceptance in America (and maybe regulatory change ensuring it) is still going to happen sooner than in India or some remote part of Africa or Asia.
The good news for us Westerners not keen on moving to Chad just so we can avoid buying an EV from our BMW dealer is that BMW seems committed to a multi-energy strategy worldwide, at least for a while yet. The company’s older CLAR platform is being updated to ensure combustion and hybrid options, like the new X7 seen in the spy shot below, live on alongside the Neue Klasse EV models.
A Multi-Platform Future
Autocar India, which first reported Goller’s comments, claims BMW will eventually have three platforms: the Neue Klasse for EVs, a new multi-energy version for hybrids (and presumably hydrogen), and a basic platform for entry-level ICE machines.
So will combustion engines never die? Of course they’ll die eventually, but with hybrid help, customer demand, and maybe e-fuels, they’ve got years left in the tank.
