BMW's management board is skipping the Paris Motor Show to hold talks aimed at breaking a deadlock over whether to produce new electric cars, including a battery-powered Mini, sources familiar with the matter said.
Spurred on by the success of U.S. rival Tesla, which has received almost 400,000 pre-orders for its Model 3 car, German carmakers Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen have accelerated their own electric car programmes.
Volkswagen, for example, has said it plans to launch more than 30 electric vehicles over the next decade, forecasting they would account for about a quarter of group deliveries by 2025.
Executives across the industry predict electric cars will increasingly gain mainstream acceptance among customers thanks to advances that make batteries get cheaper and more powerful and the VW emissions scandal, which has sparked a regulatory backlash against diesel-engine vehicles.
But BMW has been torn about whether to accelerate development of new electric cars, given its expensive early investments into the area which resulted in only lacklustre sales of its i3, which saw only 25,000 deliveries last year.
Norbert Reithofer championed the i3 project while chief executive of the Munich-based carmaker and, in his new role as chairman, is keeping up pressure on new CEO Harald Krueger and BMW management to expand the company's electric programme.
But some other senior executives are unwilling to plough more resources into electric cars until i3 sales improve and there is a clearer business case for such investment, according to one of the four sources, who declined to be named because of the confidential nature of the discussions.
Most of BMW's eight-strong management board - including the CEO and chief financial officer - traditionally attend the closed-door press and executive days of the biennial Paris Motor Show for one of the biggest industry gatherings of the calendar.
But this year only Ian Robertson, board member of sales and marketing, will be at the show, while the rest will instead attend a company strategy meeting at the end of September, according to the sources.
Board members will attempt to reach agreement on the carmaker's electric car strategy, including whether to build an electric Mini, said the sources.
BMW declined to comment.
BMW's car division has delivered a return on sales above 8 percent for 25 quarters in a row, a track record that the new management does not want to blemish, even as heavy investments into ride-hailing services loom.
"How does the company expand into the loss-making segment of electric cars and retain its industry-leading profitability. That's essentially the question facing management now," said another of the sources.
The carmaker recently revamped the i3 by giving it a new battery with greater range, a step which has given a boost to sales.
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