The production time of the BMW i3 is now shorter than planned.
The Munich car manufacturer's bizarre electric car is to be discontinued in the summer.
This was announced by a company spokesman on Friday, confirming the information from the British magazine "Autocar".
Shortly after taking office, BMW boss Oliver Zipse promised the i3 an extension until 2024 in his first interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper in autumn 2019: "The i3 will continue to be produced, no question about it," Zipse explained and named the first white-blue socket car an "icon".
Ahead of its time
In fact, BMW was ahead of its time when it went on sale in September 2013.
The i3 was the first electric car to be developed on its own platform, which no other model in the group uses.
The success did not come for a long time, especially in the first few years, the i3 sold very poorly.
By July of this year, a total of 250,000 i3s should have rolled off the assembly line at the Leipzig plant.
Then the factory will be converted to produce the BMW iX1 electric model and the Mini Countryman.
The Countryman is also to be built in Leipzig in a fully electric version.