It will be technologically advanced, fun-to-drive and premium, yet it will be small, cheap to run and very practical. Such a revolutionary design, then, can’t simply be sold in a traditional manner. Here, it seems, BMW is also thinking outside the square.
Speaking with Automobilwoche, BMW sales chief Robertson said the automaker is looking for an alternative to traditional purchase or leasing of a vehicle.
''We don't want to sell the car, but rather the use of the car," he said. He went on to explain that car sharing was an “interesting approach.”
Believe it or not, BMW is seriously looking at a car sharing approach for even its high-end models. Last year we reported that the automaker was trialing a new program called BMW On Demand, which allows members to book cars by the hour.
One of the reasons BMW is considering this approach for its Megacity Vehicle is that the automaker would find it hard to recoup the car’s high development and production costs by simply selling it. The final decision will likely be based on results from public trials of the new ActiveE electric 1-Series, which will be leased out to customers in the U.S. and elsewhere later in the year.
[Automotive News, sub req’d]
