BMW and SGL are officially coming to the US. As we reported over the last months BMW and its partner SGL had been looking for a location in northwest North America for a carbon fiber plant to supply BMW’s upcoming line of small city cars. Today BMW is taking the wraps off of the plans to build the plant in the Moses Lake area of Washington State. Components will be shipped from that location to BMW’s plant in Leipzip Germany where the new cars will be produced. And yes, these will likely be the small front wheel drive BMW (sub branded likely as iSetta) that we’ve heard so much about.
Official Release: SGL Group and BMW Group jointly announced today at an event in Seattle that their joint venture, SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers LLC, will build a state-of-the-art carbon fiber manufacturing plant in Moses Lake, WA. During the initial phase, US$ 100 million will be invested and 80 local jobs will be created.
It’s unofficially official. According to multiple sources, BMW has made the decision to launch a fourth brand for it’s upcoming Megacity vehicles (code named Project i). Insiders have told BimmerFile that BMW execs felt the product roadmap was too in either direction to use either the BMW or MINI nameplates and the only choice was create something new. Or in this case, resurrect something old.
We’ll have more on the i-Setta (yes that spelling will get old if it’s the final choice) in the coming days and weeks ahead. In the meantime be sure to check out the latest promotional video for the BMW Museum which (ironic or not) cleverly features the little runabout as its new icon.
From Autoblog green and something we have been expecting for a while now.
This entire time, BMW was to decide on the fate of the city EV by the end of the year, and it seems that they have. BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer has confirmed that the Bavarian automaker will indeed go smaller, though we are not so sure it will wear the blue and white badge. Rather, the new vehicle could wear the Isetta badge made popular on microcars from the past. “It’ll be a car with a completely new look, with two engines available. One will be a very efficient combustion engine and the other will be a purely electric model,” says Reithofer.
This will be interesting to see and to see how well it performs against the MINI.
*The image above isn’t an official rendering. You can see more information about it on it’s Flickr page.
The Isetta and Topolino are crucial to BMW and Fiat’s attempts to reduce the overall CO2 emissions of their ranges – but they will also offer buyers 100mpg fuel returns! Reviving a name not seen since the bubble car of the Fifties, the Isetta will take BMW into a new sector of the motoring market.
It will be joined by the Fiat Topolino. Both machines will offer incredible fuel consumption and low emissions, as well as tiny dimensions, and rival the imminent VW up! and Toyota iQ.
While we normally don’t put much credence to Auto Express scoops, we believe this one may have some legs. For one is matches much of what we’re hearing from our own sources. Here’s an excerpt:
A new range of city models is being planned by BMW, and they could be called Isetta after the famous bubble car of the Fifties. …it seems the project is being developed into a range of eco-friendly models to sit below MINI.
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