Good thing BMW refuses to put a date on the phasing out of the internal combustion engine. But fewer will pursue it, says director of economics Walter Mertl.
Fewer and fewer motorists will be looking for new diesel and petrol cars. At least in BMW's case.
In fact, the brand's financial director Walter Mertl believes that interest in cars with internal combustion engines has already peaked. It happened in 2023.
And from here it will only go downhill for these kinds of cars. This was explained by Walter Mertl in an interview with Reuters earlier this year.
– Demand for the internal combustion engine peaked last year. The current level will continue for a while, because it will start to fall slightly, says the director of economics.
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Walter Mertl points out that it is increasingly strict requirements for combustion engine emissions that make growth in that part of the car market look difficult.
Since the BMW boss made his prediction, however, another development has occurred. In the domestic market of Germany, demand for electric cars continues to fall after the state removed the subsidy for new cars.
And the latest figures from May show that electric cars have lost 31 percent of sales compared to the level just one year ago. On the other hand, both the plug-in hybrids as well as the pure diesel and petrol cars have actually progressed a bit. Read more about it here .
At BMW, however, you are currently experiencing that the sale of electric cars is growing by tremendous percentages. But Walter Mertl recognizes that it will not be until 2026 at the earliest that the electric car can approach the same profit as the internal combustion engine.
The petrol and diesel cars may not be the endangered species they are often made out to be either. In any case, several car brands are almost in a row to say that they do not want to throw out the internal combustion engine after all.
Most recently, Volkswagen has taken DKK 500 billion from electric car development to be able to use it on the internal combustion engine.
Read more exciting news from and about the world of cars right here!
