Headlining BMW’s stall at the New Delhi Auto Expo 2014 will be the BMW i8 hybrid sports coupé. The high-tech, carbon-bodied sportscar will become the new BMW flagship, and the most expensive model in the range at an estimated Rs 1.5 crore, ex-showroom. The BMW i8 will also be a halo model for the brand to showcase its technology.
Also, for those of you expecting to see it at the show, the company will not be bringing the BMW i3 electric compact car to the Auto Expo 2014 because, as we reported earlier, there are no plans to launch this model in the Indian market.
The BMW ‘i’ sub-brand of hybrid and electric vehicles will exist alongside the company’s range of conventional luxury cars and ‘M’ branded performance cars. The BMW i8 claims to offer the performance of a sports car with the efficiency of a compact car. It produces a combined 357bhp and 58.06kgm from its electric motor and 1.5-litre, three-cylinder petrol engine, but thanks to its lightweight carbon-fibre and aluminium construction, it is able to crack 100kph in a claimed 4.5sec. Its radical exterior and interior design elements will filter down into future BMWs, and it features a raft of cutting-edge tech like optional laser headlamps.
Indian deliveries of the new BMW i8 hybrid sportscar are expected to begin in late 2014 or early 2015, and according to a company source, only seven or eight units have been allocated for India for the first year.