BMW i8 production increase planned to meet demand

BMW are looking to increase production of the i8 plug-in hybrid as demand for the £100k green supercar sees waiting list of up to eighteen months.

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This time last year we reported that production of the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid was already sold out until 2015, which as the i8 is so new, and so original, wasn’t a huge surprise.

But the expectation was that demand would level-off as production got underway and waiting lists would become more manageable, but it seems the opposite has happened.

Waiting list for the i8 in some markets is now eighteen months said BMW marketing man Ian Roberstson in conversation with Automotive News, which is just too long. Robertson said BMW are therefore looking for ways to increase production to get the waiting list to a more manageable six months.

The forecast for 2014 will see around 3,200 i8s built, with that increasing to 4,318 in 2015, but if BMW are going to reduce waiting lists – without spoiling the exclusivity of the i8 – they are going to have to find a way to increase the 2015 build number – but by just enough.

What that should also do is make a dent in the premiums attached to i8s alraedy in the wild.

As we reported in September, premiums for the i8 in the UK have reached 50 per cent, with buyers desperate to get their hands on the first proper green supercar (this side of a P1 or 918) willing to pay as much as £140k for the privilege.

So if you have an i8 – and would like to make a tax-free killing – you’d better get it shifted before BMW work out how to cut the waiting list to under six months.