BMW’s Chief Executive Zipse says companies should be careful with electric-only strategy

Oliver Zipse, BMW’s Chief Executive Officer, said during a roundtable in New York, that companies needed to be careful not to become too dependent on a few countries by focusing on electric vehicles only.

The CEO noted that there still existed a market for combustion engine vehicles.

“When you look at the technology coming out, the EV push, we must be careful because at the same time, you increase dependency on very few countries,” BMW’s Zipse was quoted as saying by Reuters.

“If someone cannot buy an EV for some reason but needs a car, would you rather propose he continues to drive his old car forever? If you are not selling combustion engines anymore, someone else will,” he said.

According to Zipse, having more fuel-efficient combustion engine vehicles on offer is essential for auto makers both from a profit perspective and an environmental perspective.

The CEO also stressed on the high prices of EVs as well as gaps in charging infrastructure.

Zipse pointed out that companies had to plan for energy prices and raw material prices to stay at current high levels by increasing their production’s efficiency and their recycling efforts in order to keep costs low.

“We have a peak now, they might not stay at the peak, but they will not go back to former prices. How much energy you need and use, and circularity, is important – for environmental reasons but even more for economic reasons,” the CEO said.

The shares of Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMWG) closed 0.01% (EUR 0.010) lower at EUR 76.240 in Frankfurt on Thursday, after hitting an intraday high at EUR 77.160. The latter has been a price level not seen since April 8th (EUR 77.730).

The shares of the German auto maker have retreated 13.84% so far in 2022, following a 22.51% gain in 2021.