BMW's i-cars to be sold online

BMW has been marketing its ‘i’ brand of cars aggressively, releasing regular updates since the latter half of 2010. The i3 city car will be on sale late next year, and the company is looking for cost-effective ways to sell the cars including selling it directly to prospective customers online.

The development cost of the two cars is said to be around three billion dollars (about Rs 17,000 crore) and the traditional way of selling the cars through dealers may not help the company in recovering its investment. The fact that these are low-volume cars makes finding alternative ways of selling the car necessary. Also read: BMWi: Understanding the i3 and i8 Concept Studies

The first step in this direction was the opening of a specialised showroom in London, the i Store Park Lane. The next step for the company, according to reports, is selling these two electric cars on the internet. Removing the dealers from the whole process will reduce logistics costs, negate the need for stores and the company will be able to interact with potential customers directly. 

The idea seems revolutionary, but it is not new. American electric car manufacturer Tesla is selling the recently launched Tesla Model S through dedicated showrooms.