BMW Ensures Use Of Letter I Only For Pure Electric Vehicles

JAKARTA - BMW will soon make changes to the nomenclature on combustion engine (ICE) vehicles by hi at the end of the model name.

This was confirmed by Senior Vice President of BMW Brand and Product Management Bernd Korber, saying the use of the name i would only be devoted to the latest models powered by future electricity.

"We want to keep 'i' as an asset, and we want to keep it as a characteristic showing that customers are driving an electric car," Korber said.

The elimination of the letter i in the ICE model refers to the X3 M50 model which will soon be launched, replacing the previous M40i variant.

In addition to X3, the next models that will lose the letter i are Series-1 and Series-2 Gran Coupe. Both cars will get updates before the end of this year. In addition, models like the LCI Series-7 will not use i in the latest variants that will appear in 2026.

BMW has a long history with the letter i on the ICE model, including 325i, 330i, 540i, and others. With this change, the use of the letter i only applies to the electric model.

Currently, BMW has a number of electric models that carry the letters i in front of it, consisting of iX, iX1, iX2, i4, i5, and i7. A number of these models are the mainstay of manufacturers in competing in the premium EV segment globally.

In 2023, BMW Group recorded global overall sales of 2,555,341 units with 376,183 units including Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) and a 74.4 percent spike compared to the previous year.

Companies are optimistic to maintain this trend in the BEV sector during 2024. They will provide 18 BEV models covering the entire segment so as to strengthen the company's commitment to be more stable in the environmentally friendly sector.