From 1 to 7 Series: BMW Group's Klaus Fröhlich on the Automaker's Future

[Antares]

1 series - RWD

After hearing that the new 1 series could retain the rear wheel drive I've got some hope for the brand and the model in question.
Th other important thing they have to solve is their interior design.

[vladberca]

Originally Posted by F85FTW

While I agree the i8 is cutting edge and ahead of competitors in one area they are falling behind in others. Audi has had the R8 out and the new one with DCT is a great car. AMG hit a home run with the new GTS that seems to be getting high praise universally as a great sports car. Why cant BMW strap up and deliver a KO to competitors where it matters most Halo Sports car.

Maybe the i8 S will be much more sportier.
On the other hand, at least in Germany the sales of i8 are on par with the ones of R8, so BMW is present on the super sport market with a different type of product.

[Cini]

Too bad, I think a supercar would be well seen. In recent years it seems that AMG is trying to look more like the legendary M, promoting more powerful engines as v8, v10, v12 ...
BMW is too diluting the reputation of M; in short, how can you even think of having a Gran Tourer M Sport?!
The fact is that people still want cars that sounds good, that are fast and fun to drive.
The market is not yet willing to give up all this, personally I do not want them to do supercar that sounds like "zzzzz"! I want a car that can excite!
I think the development of the i8, as futuristic and innovative, is not as exciting as a powerful v12!
So, in conclusion, it's okay to develop new technologies future-oriented, but not forget about the present!

-Sorry for my bad English!-

[pimple]

Originally Posted by chris82

"The 1 Series is about conquest sales, so it has to be a true BMW"

The part in bold is the kicker here, and it really gives insight into what the brand is all about now. Just think about it for a second.

I mean, shouldn't every BMW be a true BMW?

Some would say a BMW without the sport package is not a "true BMW". For many that's probably not true.

Edit: Personally, I like choices and flavors of BMW are good and fun to follow as an enthusiast. I'm sure the flavor I've gotten used to over the years will be available for many, many years. That's my true BMW.

[FilipMPower]

Originally Posted by SCOTT26

Focus is on the next BMWi car due around 2020 which will be a four door concept but also we have revived the RFK Concept to evaluate as a crossover type vehicle to seat 4-7 passengers which is a bit like the i3 but longer and lower utilising a fuel cell. If Vision EfficientDynamics #1 was the sportier side of the future then Vision EfficientDynamics # 2 is about the practical side.

I hope this is a joke. There is no way you can be serious about this. Is this BMW or Volkswagen? If this is true, it seems to me that BMW needs a new leadership team.

[N & M]

Originally Posted by F85FTW

While I agree the i8 is cutting edge and ahead of competitors in one area they are falling behind in others. Audi has had the R8 out and the new one with DCT is a great car. AMG hit a home run with the new GTS that seems to be getting high praise universally as a great sports car. Why cant BMW strap up and deliver a KO to competitors where it matters most Halo Sports car.

Word!

[raysspl]

Sooo, nothing new?

[Mavus]

Originally Posted by chris82

"a bit like the i3 but longer and lower" = minivan

Can't wait to see it, just what everybody is looking for!!

[phantom701]

Originally Posted by Rated ///M Power

Fröhlich has been involved from the beginning with BMW's cooperation with Toyota, which covers fuel cells, among other things. How's it going? "I'd say [mass-market] fuel cells are beyond 2025. Every three to five years you get a new generation, and we need two more generations, both for lowered cost and for power density and cold-weather [robustness]."

I hope this is Fröhlich trying to throw off the competition. Tesla has done a good job with power density and cold-weather robustness. I think cost is not going to be that far away from being addressed properly.

Hopefully we will see something in 2020 instead of another 10 years.

[BMW269]

BMW is afraid to lose customers to the Giulietta replacement which will be RWD, so they are thinking about keeping 1 Series RWD.

[Cini]

Originally Posted by Levi

BMW is afraid to lose customers to the Giulietta replacement which will be RWD, so they are thinking about keeping 1 Series RWD.

And also with the Giulia, which is RWD and it's a direct rival of 3 Series (M3 included)

[BimmerMat135]

If the 1 series is all about gaining sales why not bring it to North American market? :

[chris82]

Originally Posted by Antares

1 series - RWD

After hearing that the new 1 series could retain the rear wheel drive I've got some hope for the brand and the model in question.
Th other important thing they have to solve is their interior design.

I drove the F30 328i, the interior simply looks cheap, and is no way a step up from the E90/92. It looks and feels like you're in a Japanese car; reminded me of my '08 Civic. Then I look at what Audi and Mercedes are offering and that just makes the F30's interior look even worse!

[fuddman]

"In the U.S. we have a mandatory roadmap," he says. "In Europe it will be very slow because there's limited regulatory support. In other regions it could change dramatically. For example, if you need a PHEV to get a license plate in China."

Does he see BMW's gasoline-car customers subsidizing uneconomic EVs? "We have to make them cost-effective by engineering, but we also have to make them emotional," he says. "They have to have performance. An i3 has 170-hp like a Mini Cooper S. Our first PHEV was the i8."

He never answered the question about gas cars subsidizing uneconomic EVs. Boy, did he run away from that one. I guess he felt he had to throw something out there for an answer, so he gave what amounts to a complete sentence and closed off that topic.
Let me guess what he may have wanted to say:
Gas cars subsidizing EV's? Answer: No. Gas cars going away? Answer: yes.
Result: EV's win by default.
And he thinks it's going to happen. Check out his comment about the US providing him a "mandatory roadmap" to EV land. The "mandatory roadmap" is increasingly stricter EPA requirements (bye, bye nasty fossil fuel!) and subsidies for you Volt people (yeah, tax breaks)
Interesting that Europe doesn't give him "regulatory" (tax breaks?) support. And he's hoping China will drop the licensing tax (up to 15k in savings) like they did for Tesla. That'll improve the bottom line.

[The Automotive Enthusiast]

The interior of the 2 series looks like it's made of higher quality materials when compared to the 3 series. The LCI has somewhat fixed that, though.