The automotive division of BMW offers a wide variety of automobiles, including sedans, coupes, convertibles, SUVs, and electric cars, under the BMW, Mini, and Rolls-Royce brands. Every car is expertly designed, combining state-of-the-art technology with dynamic performance and opulent comfort. Popular models like the BMW X3, X5, and X7 SUVs, the electric BMW i3 and iX models, and the BMW 3 Series, 5 Series, and 7 Series sedans are all part of the company’s line-up.

BMW is known not only for its automobiles but also for its high-performance motorcycles, which it sells to enthusiasts in the form of the BMW S 1000 RR and R 1250 GS. Furthermore, BMW has advanced the field of electric mobility significantly with its BMW i sub-brand, which sells plug-in hybrid and electric cars made to satisfy the rising demand for environmentally friendly modes of transportation.

Beyond the products it sells, BMW is dedicated to developing automotive technology through R&D projects centred on electrification, connectivity, and autonomous driving. The company’s attempts to lower emissions, increase fuel economy, and incorporate renewable energy sources into its production processes demonstrate its commitment to sustainability.

Moreover, BMW is a global brand that is present in more than 140 countries and is known for producing high-end automobiles that represent the pinnacle of driving pleasure. BMW is at the forefront of the automotive industry thanks to constant innovation and an unwavering commitment to quality. Its forward-thinking approach and unwavering commitment to excellence are shaping the future of mobility.

The brain behind this successful venture is 60-year-old Oliver Zipse, a German business executive who has been the chairman of the board of management (CEO) of BMW since 16 August 2019.

Who Is Oliver Zipse?
• Oliver Zipse was born on 7 February 1964, Heidelberg, West Germany
• He graduated in 1991 with a degree in mechanical engineering
• Oliver Zipse also graduated from the Kellogg-WHU Executive MBA Programme, which is a joint MBA degree from Kellogg School of Management, United States and WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, Germany in 1999
• In 1991, he joined BMW, as a trainee in development, technical planning and production, and spent his entire professional life at the company
  Oliver Zipse worked as a project engineer in technology development, from 1992 to 1994
• He held various leadership positions in development, production and production planning in Munich and South Africa
• Oliver Zipse was appointed to the board of management of BMW AG, succeeding former chairman Harald Kruger in 2015
• In July 2019, he was appointed chairman of the board (CEO), effective 16 August 2019
• Under Oliver Zipse’s leadership, BMW increased their joint venture with BMW Brilliance in China
• According to the Listofceo website, as of 2023, Oliver Zipse’s net worth can be in the range of USD 25-35 million
• Under Oliver Zipse’s Able Leadership, BMW Enters The EV Domain

BMW has extended Oliver Zipse’s contract and he will now continue to serve as the company’s Chairman of the Board of Management (CEO) until 2026.

Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of BMW, praised Oliver Zipse’s leadership, while noting that the CEO successfully guided the company through turbulent times. Martin Kimmich, Chairman of the General Works Council of BMW, highlighted the positive cooperation between the Board of Management and the Works Council, affirming that this productive partnership would continue under Zipse.

In fact, under Oliver Zipse’s leadership, the BMW Group has significantly expanded its electric vehicle lineup, offering fully electric models across nearly all of its core vehicle segments. Also, the development of the Neue Klasse, the next generation of BMW models, has commenced, with production slated to commence in 2025.

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The long-awaited rule requiring automakers selling in the US to significantly increase the number of battery-powered vehicles sold this decade was finalised by the US Environmental Protection Agency. This will significantly reduce the nation’s carbon emissions. More than half of newly sold automobiles must be electric by 2032.

Changes made since the regulations were first proposed in draft form about a year ago would provide automakers more flexibility in determining how to meet the government’s new tailpipe emissions targets. One significant change: plug-in hybrids are now an option.

Automakers could only reach the progressively stricter zero-emission targets under the proposed rule by increasing the sales of battery-electric vehicles. However, manufacturers will now be permitted to employ plug-in hybrids to achieve the standards, thanks to pressure from automakers and unions, both of whom claimed that the EPA’s suggestions were unachievable.

Accordingly, automakers can now comply with federal regulations by making sure that, by 2032, battery-electric vehicles will account for two-thirds of their sales, or slightly more than half, while plug-in hybrids would make up the remaining 13 per cent.

As automakers rush to fulfil the country’s most aggressive climate objectives to date, expect them to make use of these hybrid vehicles, which are largely powered by electric batteries and then supported by a gas-powered engine once the batteries run low.

These things are going to be abundant on the route. The device does, however, have a climate catch: its drivers can pick how emission-free they want it to be.

Gateway To EV

Executives from several automakers, including Audi, BMW, General Motors, Mercedes, Volvo, and the Chinese EV producer BYD, have expressed optimism in recent months that the “compromise” cars will catalyse the mass adoption of electric vehicles. Furthermore, Toyota may feel vindicated by the policy change since it has wagered that consumers will gravitate toward plug-in and gas-electric hybrids instead of following Tesla’s lead and purchasing all-electric vehicles.

Plug-in hybrid sales are increasing more quickly than those of battery-electric vehicles worldwide, albeit in part because the hybrids still have a ways to go. Data from market research firm BloombergNEF shows that between 2022 and 2023, sales of plug-in hybrids increased by 43% to over 4.2 million units. During the same time frame, sales of battery-electric vehicles rose by 28% to close to 9.6 million.

The technology has a few strong advantages. Since most American drivers only go 30 miles a day on average, most could get by on the electric battery of a plug-in hybrid and only use gas for longer excursions.

Additionally, plug-in hybrids ease the manufacturing anxieties of several automakers: Although they cost more to construct than pure battery electrics (the two-motor setup), the technology can occasionally be added to already-owned gas-powered vehicles. Short-term, this means less work—an exciting prospect for an industry that, as it transitions to electric vehicles, will need to rethink how it acquires the resources needed to make its cars run on batteries over the next few decades.

Automakers now have a few more years to complete their electric vehicle portfolio, according to Gil Tal, the director of UC Davis’ Plug-In Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Research Centre.

Furthermore, some view plug-in hybrids as a method for those who are apprehensive about switching to a new drivetrain to become acclimated to the concept of driving a fully electric car.

“We observe a lot of customers who start with a plug-in hybrid and move to a fully electric vehicle for their next vehicle,” Volvo’s deputy CEO and chief commercial officer, Bjorn Annwall, said in a call with investors last month.

He went on, to say that Volvo “will get further love and care with smart investments” for the cars.

However, data from Europe, where plug-in hybrids have been around for a while, indicates that things are a little more nuanced there. Occasionally, plug-in hybrid owners use their time with the cars to get used to charging them before deciding to switch entirely to battery power, according to Patrick Plötz, a transport electrification policy researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI in Germany.

But occasionally the opposite is true, according to him: drivers, particularly those who drive plug-in hybrids with shorter-range batteries, feel that “it’s the worst of both sides.” A portion of these motorists retreat to their familiar gas-powered vehicles.

Unsatisfactory Plug-In Conduct

Plug-in hybrids’ emissions production and environmental friendliness are dependent on how their drivers utilise them. Most of them can be powered by electricity. However, data indicates that some drivers may not be charging their cars sufficiently, which causes their batteries to run low and forces them to run mostly on gasoline. Their travels cause an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. It would be like if those drivers were operating internal combustion engines.

According to Tal, a researcher from UC Davis, anyone looking to cut their carbon emissions quickly should consider fully battery-electric vehicles based on his studies of plug-in hybrid drivers’ behaviour. That “gateway electric” notion has grown on him.

He said, “I view plug-in hybrids as an addition, not a means of transitioning to fully electric vehicles.”

The US EPA acknowledged that plug-in hybrid driving is far from emissions-free in the real world to appease environmentalists and auto lobbyists when it released the new tailpipe emissions guideline.

According to David Reichmuth, a senior engineer at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a research and advocacy group, the government’s regulations, however, are predicated on the idea that real-world drivers will eventually become more conscientious about plugging in their cars.

Could a reliance on plug-in hybrids by automakers hinder the transition? Reichmuth says maybe. “Yet ultimately, the [new emissions regulations] represent a significant advancement.”

The post IF Insights: Plug-in hybrid momentum propels automakers toward EV flexibility appeared first on International Finance.

Knowing Cazoo In Detail

Cazoo’s portfolio has a wide range of used cars, be it high-end brands like Audi, Land Rover, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz or common names like Ford, Kia, Nissan and Volkswagen.

Cazoo’s ‘Car Finance’ programme helps its customers to tailor their vehicle finance plans as per their household budgets and then go for the used car fitting in that bill. The buyers can select the vehicles, apply for finance, pay their monthly deposits and complete the paperwork, all online, following which the cars will be delivered either to their doorsteps or they can receive the vehicles from ‘Cazoo Customer Centres’.

Their ‘Car Finance’ programme has two solutions, Hire Purchase (the buyer can spread the car cost by making monthly payments over an agreed term) and Personal Contract Purchase (the buyer can make equal monthly payments over an agreed term. After the contract ends, he/she can decide on whether to hand the car back to the lender or change it for another one/buy the vehicle with an ‘optional final payment’).

Cazoo’s ‘Car Finance’ programme has been drawn in collaboration with European lending giants like Black Horse, Santander and Evolution.

The start-up’s ‘Car Care’ programme covers areas such as warranty extension, thorough car servicing and paint and fabric protection.

For those planning to sell cars, Cazoo states on its website, “You can drop your car off at your nearest Customer Centre for free and in as little as 48 hours, or we can pick the car up from your door with prices starting from £149. The pick-up fee will be deducted from the value of your car. Cars that are valued at £25,000 or more must be dropped off at a Customer Centre for processing due to their value.”

Not Every Vehicle Meets Cazoo’s High Standards

Cazoo doesn’t buy first-hand vehicles which have issues identified by a car history check, contain damages, stolen/scrapped, have mileage discrepancies, lack legal tyres, and have been used for rental and authority purposes/driving lessons. Also, 15-year-old cars, along with the ones with insurance issues and modified automobile parts, are not preferred either.

Cazoo’s Maintenance Check Involves
• To recondition the used cars before handing them over to the customers
• After reconditioning, it displays detailed images of the car on its website
• Cazoo technicians test drive every used car to check its engine performance, steering, brakes and other engineering parameters, before handing them over to the customers
• Executing oil and filter changes on every car with less than three months to go before its next service and listing for sales
• Valet the cars and thoroughly sanitise them before handing them over to the customers, while ensuring the vehicles are having 10 litres of fuel (or 75% of charge, in the case of an electric vehicle) during the deliveries
• During delivery, Cazoo also provides a 90-day warranty and RAC roadside assistance for these used cars
• Its ‘7-Day Money Back Guarantee’ gives the customers a week’s time to drive up to 250 miles, in order to know and get acquainted with the car. Cazoo’s customer care also gets in touch with the customers during the same timeframe to get feedback

Latest Developments Around Cazoo

The company, launched in December 2019, was valued at USD 7 billion (over £5.2 billion) when it was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in August 2021. However, it is facing a market test right now.

In June 2022, the company stated its intention to cut costs by £200 million by 2023 end, which would result in around 750 job cuts.

Cazoo has removed 15 of its 22 used car handover centres from its website, as part of its business restructuring. It has already withdrawn from the European market, apart from axing its car subscription services and selling its Cazana used car data business.

It intends to retail 40,000 to 50,000 used cars in 2023, in order to achieve profitability after delivering 65,000 sales in 2022, down on its earlier 100,000 unit target. Cazoo’s revenues in 2022 had risen to £1.25 billion from £668 million in 2021. The start-up won’t raise additional capital in the next two years, as it ended 2022 with a balance sheet of over £250 million of cash and other assets.

However, Cazoo is showing signs of a rebound in 2023, as its founder and CEO Alex Chesterman commented, “Our January and February retail sales volumes and revenues were in line with expectations and, as we focus on unit economics, we continue to notably improve our retail GPU which is tracking at ~£900 so far this year, up from ~£600 in Q4 2022. The fact that we have now sold well over 100,000 cars entirely online in the UK in the three years since launch demonstrates the continued consumer shift online as they embrace the transparency and convenience of our market-leading digital used car buying and selling experience.”

Jonathan Dunkley, a 20-year veteran in the used car industry, who was working as a strategic advisor to Cazoo since 2021, has been appointed as the company’s Chief Operating Officer, as the business now eyes ending 2023 with over £100 million of assets in its balance sheet.

Image Credits: Cazoo

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The BMW i3s will make global debut in September, at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show. The price hasn’t been made public yet, but it’s only known that the price will be announced at a later date.

The small electric car has been assembled with a 199 lb.-ft. (270 Nm) of torque and upgraded wheels and tire package. It also owns an optional 2-cylinder gasoline driven range-extending, generator, helping the i3s’s range to reach a more 180 miles. The car is light-weighted and is geared with an enhanced electric power train, making it swift and receptive. According to BMW, the i3s can sprint from 0 mph to 60 mph in a mere 6.8 seconds and attain a top speed of 100 mph. Compared to the i3 which owns a top speed of 70 mph, this model has made quite an improvement. There is an estimated improvement of 0.4 seconds in the latest i3s. As a contrast to the existing i3 model having 170 horsepower, the i3s owns a more effective 184 horsepower electric motor. Also, in terms of performance capabilities like motor speed range and torque, i3s will be 40% superior to the i3.

The interior is packed with BMW’s latest tech goodies like iDrive 6 infotainment system that runs on a 10.25-inch wide screen. The car owns the eco-friendly tag not only in terms of emission, but also with the usage of renewable materials to build 80 percent of the surfaces visible to the passengers.

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