BMW i8 commands $100,000 over original sale price

The BMW i8 has been quite the eye catching success story for the Bavarian auto giant. Although essentially a plug-in hybrid on the inside, the amazing and futuristic carbonfibre body combined with a set of butterfly doors makes the i8 as desirable as the latest Ferrari or Lamborghini. In fact, in some countries the demand for the i8 far exceeds that for its Italian rivals and BMW dealers seem to be cashing in on this demand.

Sources say that a few dealers have marked up the price of the BMW i8 by nearly $100,000 over the $140,000 base price that the car commands. In certain other cities around the United States, the markups are hovering around $50-$75 thousand depending on the demand for the new generation sports car. 

The BMW i8 has a plug-in hybrid powertrain that consists of a 1.5-litre TwinPower Turbo three-cylinder engine, an electric motor and a lithium-ion battery pack. This enables the model to have a combined maximum output of 370PS, which allows it to accelerate from 0-100kmph in 4.4 seconds and hit a limited top speed of 250 kmph. More importantly, the i8 can travel up to 37 km on electricity alone making it the ideal intra-city sports car.

The BMW i8 is just another example of a recent spate of similar incidents where owners and dealers have been marking up prices of popular sports cars and supercars worldwide. Recently, there were reports of the La Ferrari being sold at a markup of over $ 1.5 million over the asking price to a set of buyers who could afford to cough up the extra.

In India, there always been reports of premiums being offered by individuals to people who have booked the car so as to transfer their booking to the formers name instead. The Tata Nano for example at the time of launch commanded a premium of over Rs 1 lakh and there were more than a few customers who willingly sold their car off for the extra moolah. In 1983, the Maruti 800 commanded a price premium of exactly double the Rs 50,000 asking price of the car and the Bajaj scooters of the day were no different. In 1988, when Premier launched the 118NE at a sale price of about Rs 1.2 lakh, it too commanded a premium of over Rs 60-70 thousand.