BMW is finally killing off its smallest and quirkiest vehicle, the i3. BMW made an announcement to its dealers via a bulletin, as BMW Blog reports.
I reached out to BMW and the company confirmed that July would mark the end of the i3 in the U.S. market. I was not surprised; the i3's future has looked bleak for a while now. Launching in 2013, it never set any sales records on fire. Sales have been dropping since at least 2016. 2015 was its peak with 11,024 sold. Last year? Just 1,052 were sold. Only 340 have made it to owners so far this year.
One can only speculate why so few found homes. The i3's high starting price ($44,450; $41,350 in 2013) and limited range hurt its appeal. You can’t argue with the technology that went into it, though. Do not forget that the i3 has a full carbon fiber chassis. The body and chassis are actually glued together, as we saw going in-depth on an i3 at the Munro teardown facility.
BMW has shown its interests are elsewhere with the expansion of the i brand to include the new i4 sedan and iX crossover.
While the i3 will die here in the U.S., it’ll still be sold in other markets. At least it will be until 2022 that is. That’s when BMW has planned for global production to discontinue. If you want, one act fast. This will probably be the last time we see something close to a city car from BMW. They can be found dirt cheap on the used market, too. We have written about these cars going for the mid-teens, which is a steal for the level of tech on hand. Or you can head on over to Mini and get a Mini SE, which uses the same powertrain as the i3.