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      06-12-2020, 08:57 AM   #1
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Final 18 Leave Leipzig, Each One Custom One-Off

BIMMERPOST
     Featured on BIMMERPOST.com
PRESS RELEASE:

Final 18 BMW i8 cars leave Plant Leipzig.

June 25, 2020

Leipzig. Austin Yellow. British Racing Green. Le Mans Blue. The last 18 BMW i8 vehicles left BMW Group Plant Leipzig today as their future owners looked on. Each car was a one-off created in close collaboration with the customer. “The degree of customisation in these vehicles threw up some major logistical and process challenges,” said Plant Director Hans-Peter Kemser. “But our i production unit has proved yet again that nothing is impossible.”

Manufacturing a BMW i8 is in itself a feat of modern automotive construction, owing to the vehicle concept, drive technology, and unique mix of carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) and aluminium. But the final 18 special models presented the i8 production team with particular challenges on top: each one was finished in a paintwork colour that had previously not been applied to the outer skin components of a BMW i8. Painting such a large number of exterior parts in the specified colour made production and logistics far more complex. Manufactured and painted virtually by hand by a range of suppliers and at BMW Group Plant Landshut, the challenge lay in getting the components to the production line in full premium quality. And with each part being the only one of this colour in existence and highly complex to reproduce, the utmost care and precision were required in logistics and throughout series vehicle production.

“Yet again, we have proved our ability to meet the highly discerning standards and personal specifications of our customers with unique solutions and unparalleled skill,” said Plant Director Hans-Peter Kemser. “For BMW i8 production to end with a finale like this is something we can all be very proud of.” The final vehicles also have customised components in their interiors, such as Alcantara covers for seats and steering wheels, and special trim strips and fascia panels.

The customers in Plant Leipzig today – some of whom were members of the BMW i8 Club International – were on location to see their vehicles leave the factory gates and be handed over to vehicle logistics. Claus-Dieter Bachmann, President of the BMW i8 Club, described the day at the plant as a “highlight for our club members”. The unique vehicles, he said, are the “dream cars” of their future owners, adding: “The BMW Group and Plant Leipzig have enabled something truly outstanding.”

Final 18 BMW i8





https://www.automobilwoche.de/articl...tig-verdoppeln

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Google Translation:
Quote:
Farewell to the i8:
BMW says goodbye to the hybrid sports car i8 - and could also ramp up production of the pure Stromer i3. Because capacities are still free in the factory. BMW could use that if the increased e-car premium boosts demand.

BMW sees itself prepared for a possible e-car boom due to the planned increase in the e-car premium in Germany. The production of the electric car i3 in Leipzig could be doubled at short notice, said plant manager Hans-Peter Kemser on Thursday on the sidelines of a small celebration at the end of production of the hybrid sports car i8. "We are currently producing 116 i3 in a shift," said Kemser. "We could build 250 in two shifts a day."

Whether the number of units will actually increase depends on demand, Kemser added. "We orientate ourselves on the market and do not produce waste stock." With the current number of pieces, i3 production, which was restarted on May 18 after a two-month break, is already back to pre-corona levels. "We were back up from day one."

i3 production continues in one-shift operation
BMW announced a week ago that it would return to normal two-shift operations at all locations by mid-June. In i3 production, it will initially remain with one-shift operation, said works spokesman Julian Friedrich. It was also valid in the area before the Corona break. In the rest of the plant, where one and two are built, on the other hand, they have been working in two shifts since May 18.

BMW only expanded the i3 production that started in 2013 and increased its capacity from 130 to 200 units per day - or 50,000 a year. Last year, almost 40,000 i3s were built for the first time. BMW plans to continue building the brand's only electric car until 2024. The brand's second electric car, the iX3, is due to start in late summer, followed by i4 and i-Next in the coming year.

Last i8 as a unique blue
On the other hand, the production of the hybrid sports car i8, which BMW developed in 2013 together with the i3 and which was launched on the market shortly after the electric car, ended on Thursday. Shortly before 11 a.m., the last copy rolled off the assembly line - an i8 Roadster with the special livery Portimao Blue. "It is unique," said works spokesman Friedrich. Because otherwise the color was not offered on the i8. The vehicle is one of 18 units that BMW finally produced for members of the i8 Club Germany - in individual colors of your choice. He is now going to a customer in Lower Saxony.

"It is a very emotional day," said plant manager Kemser at a small party in front of 100 employees from the i8 assembly. And because the corona restrictions meant that not all of the employees involved were allowed to enter the hall at the same time, the celebration was then repeated again. "This marks the end of an era," said Kemser. As the first plug-in hybrid of the brand in 2014, the i8 embodied the departure into electromobility like no other vehicle - and it already has what it takes to become a classic. Also thanks to the carbon body, which was first used in large series for the i3 and i8. "Nothing will rust away."

End of production postponed due to Corona
The i8 Roadster launched in 2018 then used parts from the 3D printer for the first time, added Kemser. "The car is a milestone for BMW in the areas of materials and technology. And it will remain so." BMW has since said goodbye to the expensive carbon body. The brand's new e-models will have classic steel or aluminum bodies - and will run on the same production line as their sister models.

Exactly 20,448 copies of the i8 have left the factory since production started a good six years ago. In the end, six were built a day. Production should actually end in mid-April. However, because the plant came to a standstill in mid-March due to the Corona crisis, the end of production was postponed to June. There should not be a direct successor.
https://www.electrive.com/2020/06/12...e-i8-for-good/
Quote:
The last i8 to be made left the Leipzig BMW plant on Thursday. Production of the PHEV was actually supposed to end in mid-April. But since the plant was shut down because of the Corona crisis, the end of production was postponed to June.

Exactly 20,448 units of the i8 have left the plant since production started six years ago. The last copy was an i8 Roadster in ‘Portimao Blue’ and is going to a customer in Germany, as BMW wrote in a press release.

At its premiere in 2014, the i8 was the first plug-in hybrid in the entire BMW Group. With a six-figure basic price and its elaborate carbon body, the hybrid sports car never made it out of its niche. According to Hans-Peter Kemser, head of the BMW plant in Leipzig, the i8 “embodies the departure into electric mobility like no other car”. The model has laid the foundation for the now wide range of plug-in hybrid models.

The purely electric BMW i3, which is also produced in Leipzig, currently produces 116 units per day in one shift. According to plant manager Hans-Peter Kemser, the production of the i3 could be extended to two shifts and thus increased to 250 units per day if the increased e-car premium boosts demand.

The i8 will not have a direct successor. In the meantime, there had been speculation that the Vision M Next concept car presented in 2019 could be built in series. But the hybrid sports car (this time with a four-cylinder petrol engine instead of the three-cylinder in the i8) did not get beyond the planning stage: according to media reports, the BMW board of directors is said to have decided against the 441 kW sports car, also against the background of the Corona crisis this would have been mainly been due to “costs and the volume”.
https://www.bimmertoday.de/2020/06/1...eipzig-gebaut/
Attachment 2336817
Quote:
Finale in Portimao Blau: last BMW i8 built in Leipzig

The era of BMW i8 production at the Leipzig plant ended yesterday with an individual roadster in Portimao Blue. Already for April ...

The era of BMW i8 production at the Leipzig plant ended yesterday with an individual roadster in Portimao Blue. The end of production, which was actually planned for April, was postponed for several weeks due to the corona forced break of the plant; after all, the last vehicles ordered had to be built. Since the start of production and market in 2014, a total of exactly 20,500 copies of the plug-in hybrid athlete have been built, with the last 18 units being designed according to the individual wishes of the members of the BMW i8 Club and sometimes being significantly different from the configurations that are usually available distinguished.

The BMW i8 was the first BMW Group plug-in hybrid to pave the way for the company's current market leadership role in premium vehicles with electrified drives. Together with the i3, which was also built exclusively in Leipzig, he founded the BMW i sub-brand, which has been one of the company's innovation drivers in recent years. Particularly sporty models such as the M3 and M4, but also luxurious vehicles such as the 7 and 8 series benefited from the extensive experience with the high-tech material carbon, which the BMW Group has integrated into its own mix of materials much more intensively than any other large series manufacturer for years.


The BMW i8 2014 was a technological exclamation mark with its carbon passenger cell, a three-cylinder engine in the rear, the ability to drive purely electrically, and features such as the world's first laser light headlights to be offered in a production car . At a time when most people associated the topic of hybrid, especially with vehicles like the Toyota Prius, that hybrids are by no means just economical city cars and can therefore also fit perfectly with BMW's brand values.

With its futuristic design and quite remarkable driving performance , the i8 always caused astonished looks, even if it naturally could not compete on the racetrack with the super sports cars of other manufacturers, some of which were almost twice as strong - but all the critics who repeatedly accuse him of this point had never really understood the concept and the mission of the i8 as an ambassador for a clean driving fun future .

A multitude of internationally significant awards and honors have repeatedly confirmed the special role of the BMW i8. The title of the World Green Car of the Year was followed by several awards for the hybrid drive of the sports car at the Engine of the Year Awards over a period of four years, which blurred boundaries between the segments from the start. In addition, there were so many awards in national surveys and awards that a complete list would go beyond the scope.

Hans-Peter Kemser (Head of BMW Plant Leipzig): “The BMW i8 is a unique vehicle that was manufactured by unique employees. The experience gained here at the Leipzig plant ensures that the BMW Group has lightweight construction expertise that is unique in the automotive industry. The BMW i8 is an integral part of Leipzig. He is a brand ambassador for the BMW Group and for our plant. For six years. And also in the future. ”

Last edited by BMWGirlFL; 06-25-2020 at 10:18 AM..
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