2017 will be remembered as the time where hybrid and electric powered vehicles started making major inroads in terms of sales volumes here in Malaysia. The BMW Group Malaysia had recently announced its performance figures for their iPerformance vehicles for the first half of 2017 and they've registered and sold over 2,300 units of their hybrid and electric powered vehicles. These make up the BMW 330e, BMW X5 xDrive40e and the BMW 740Le (which was only recently launched a few months ago) up to the month of June 2017.
(From L-R) Mr. Stefan Sloboda, Head of Aftersales; Ms.Natasha Karim, Head of Marketing; Mr. Han Sang Yun, Managing Director & CEO; Mr. Raymond Tan, Head of Sales; and Mr. Sashi Ambi, Head of Corporate Communications of BMW Group Malaysia with the All-New BMW 740Le xDrive.
This is quite a feat as BMW only first started selling and delivering its iPerformance vehicles sometime in the middle of last year. It was the BMW X5 xDrive 40e (below) the first BMW Hybrid vehicle with eDrive Technology sold here that started the ball rolling and with that, BMW also reported that they've sold over 3,200 hybrid and electric vehicles since mid-2016. They've also reported that the current sales volume mix of electric/hybrid vehicles is 44% of their total volume. This figure is extremely high compared to the rest of the world.
We are at the forefront of energy efficient vehicle usage actually. I have to put this on the fact that our goverment actually pushes out a lot of incentives for manufacturers to build and sell Energy Efficient Vehicles here. Tax breaks are given out to those that assemble and sell EEVs here and BMW (as well as many others these days) have taken full advantage of this. Do note that at this moment, the flagship vehicles sold by BMW Group Malaysia, the locally assembled BMW 740Le and the BMW X5 xDrive40e are the only variants available on sale to take advantage of their unique EEV certified drivetrains, as is the newly launched BMW 530i which is also EEV certified and assembled locally. All of the cars are sold at prices lower than a non-EEV certified equivalent.
On a similar note, BMW Group Malaysia and GreenTech Malaysia’s has a partnership that offers the
BMW's plug-in hybrid vehicles customers in Malaysia to access the ChargeNow mobility services via the ChargEV platform, There are more than 200 ChargEV stations available nationwide and this will continue to grow to a target of 25,000 ChargEV stations by 2020. BMW Group Malaysia also announced that 600 BMW Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle owners have also signed up for the BMW ChargeNow program on the ChargEV platform.
Definitely the future. Having personally tried out a few of the BMW Plug-In Hybrids at the end of last year at Auto Bavaria's sales carnival, I must say that they are truly efficient vehicles. Even the large X5 is a sweet drive. Of course, these are BMW's eDrive cars and are tuned more for efficiency than outright performance. BMW have decided to play the efficiency game in full where even the gear ratios are tuned for efficiency and economy over outright acceleration and top speed. This is especially true for the 330e (pictured above). One must throttle back a little for the sake of the planet I suppose.
More details in the press release below.
BMW Group Malaysia Achieves Record Breaking Performance for its BMW
iPerformance vehicles in Malaysia.
Premium automaker on track to assemble and deliver the highest number of BMW Hybrid
vehicles with eDrive Technology in Malaysia and the World.
performance for its portfolio of BMW iPerformance vehicles in the first half of 2017.
Mirroring the ongoing success of the BMW Group for its electro mobility vehicles worldwide,
BMW Group Malaysia delivered over 2300 units of the BMW 330e, BMW X5 xDrive40e and
the newly introduced BMW 740Le up to the month of June 2017.
Since the introduction of the first BMW Hybrid vehicle with eDrive Technology with the BMW
X5 xDrive 40e at the end of June 2016, the premium automaker has already delivered over
3200 units of the vehicle in the country, charting a share of over 44% of its total volume mix in
the country, the highest in the world. The current world average is at 3% while in the Nordic
countries, the figure is at 14%.
Mr. Han Sang Yun, Managing Director and CEO of BMW Group Malaysia said, “Malaysia is
leading the way! The growth and take up rate of the BMW iPerformance vehicles here
indicates that Malaysians are ready for the newest technology in the automotive industry and
the BMW Hybrid vehicles with eDrive Technology are the best offerings for customers to get
into vehicles that are not only dynamic and beautifully designed but are also responsible and
frugal in terms of fuel consumption and CO 2 emissions.”
The sales performance of the BMW 330e have been very successful in that more than 60%
of BMW 3 Series delivered in the country currently are of the BMW iPerformance model.
Meanwhile, over 40% of the BMW 7 Series variants delivered were of the only recently
introduced BMW 740Le xDrive.
Driving its product portfolio of BMW Hybrid vehicles with eDrive Technology further forward,
BMW Group Malaysia have also prioritised on infrastructure and mobility services in its
strategy to make electric driving a more comfortable and convenient experience and a daily
pleasure.
Han added, “To create a new dimension and experience of Sheer Driving Pleasure and
vehicle ownership in the premium segment, we must also look at ensuring necessary
infrastructure is made available to support the new technology. This is what increases
consumer confidence in the viability of plug-in hybrid vehicles and eventually electric vehicles
in the future.”
Referring to BMW Group Malaysia and GreenTech Malaysia’s partnership to offer the
premium automaker’s new plug-in hybrid vehicles customers in the country access to its
ChargeNow mobility services via the ChargEV platform, Mr. Han said, “To date, there are
more than 200 ChargEV stations available nationwide and this will continue to grow to a
target of 25,000 ChargEV stations by 2020. We are pleased to share that over 600 BMW
Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle owners have also signed up for the BMW ChargeNow program on the
ChargEV platform. This is another confidence on the progress of the take up of these new
technologically advanced vehicles and Malaysian’s move in adopting electro-mobility will
continue to be positive.”
With ChargEV playing a pivotal role in encouraging the adoption of Electric Vehicles and
Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles, BMW Group Malaysia is also expanding the accessibility of charging
stations through its network of authorised dealerships. Only recently, Seong Hoe Premium
Motors, the premium automaker’s representative in the state of Melaka installed a dedicated
BMWi Wallbox at the Holiday Inn Melaka with another similar project in progress at The
Equatorial Melaka due in the month of August. In East Malaysia, BMW Group Malaysia’s
premium partner Regas Premium Auto Sarawak will also be installing two BMWi Wallbox
solutions at CityONE Megamall in Kuching, the first public charging infrastructure in the state
of Sarawak.
The BMW ChargeNow service is offered as part of the BMW 360° ELECTRIC program for
customers of the BMW i8, BMW 330e, BMW X5 xDrive40e and BMW 740Le xDrive. The
convenient mobility service makes every day on-the- go charging a seamless part of owning a
BMW i or BMW Hybrid vehicle with eDrive Technology. Using the ChargeNow card also
grants straightforward access to partner charging stations like ChargEV, where customers
can enjoy 24/7 support and access to all charging locations on ChargEV’s growing network.
To sign up for the BMW ChargeNow service, customers can visit
https://www.facebook.com/chargEV/.
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