April 24, 2008

Not Enough

by Piers Fawkes in Automotive, Environmental, Advertising & Branding

where's the hybrid

BMW spent the last couple of years showing off a hydrogen concept car. It spent a lot of time and effort trying to create a greener image for the German automaker including the supposed donation of some of their cars to stars and showing off their car at TED 2007. Only 100 BMW Hydrogen 7 cars have ever been made and after all the hoopla, the plans to put it into production remain somewhat hazy.

If BMW were really that interested in being a greener car company why then did they not launch their new 1 Series with a hybrid car, then? If Toyota and Lexus can have hybrids in their current range, why can’t the supposed craftsmen in Germany build the ultimate driving machine for the world today? In 2008, the 1 Series doesn’t even get to 28mpg and these are BMW’s smallest cars.

Another example of a brand that simply isn’t doing enough.

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2 Responses to “Not Enough”

Mark Capper
Posted from: 68.5.243.182
April 25th, 2008 at 1:35 am

Should every brand be everything to everyone? I think not. I like that BMW developed their own version of hydrogen that is more similar to combustion engines. This is in line with their positioning and target. Yes, the entire industry is delayed in rolling out hydrogen, but it is coming. BMW did miss an opportunity with hybrids as some hybrid technology performs better than gasoline only - BMW could have played here. I have heard and read that some hybrids can be quite fast. In a world where the train is desired over the car in the daily commute, there has to be a reason to drive!
lukewarmcrew
Posted from: 70.181.78.26
April 27th, 2008 at 10:41 pm

Why not bring the diesels that are all over Europe and every country to the US? Way better gas milage then any of their models in the US and consumers can put Bio-Diesel in them. Get on that German technology that’s already been created. BMW diesels for all 50 states. YEAH!