Next goal for BMW: connectivity and autonomous cars

According to the chief executive of BMW, Harald Krueger, the brand wants to become the industry leader in autonomous driving and connectivity technologies. From now on, this will be the priority of the Bavarian brand instead of increasing its sales figures.

At an event held at the headquarters of BMW in Munich, Germany, Krueger made clear that the company will not only focus on the electrification of its future vehicle range, but also will continue developing fuel cell vehicles.

“We are working on a new generation of hydrogen vehicles with Toyota. Last year, we tested a small fleet of vehicles based on the 5 Series GT. In 2021, we want to take the next step in fuel cell technology,” said Krueger.

At the end of last week, BMW reinforced its involvement in the development of autonomous vehicles through a partnership with component manufacturer Delphi, a collaboration that joins those with Intel and Mobileye. Krueger has stated that partnerships with these manufacturers will be crucial to accelerate the development of autonomous technology.

“We are not the best at manufacturing radars and vision controls, so we work with Mobileye. We don’t make chips, so we cooperate with Intel. And we have just partnered with Delphi to develop the next software,” said the chief executive of the German brand.

Last year, the BMW group sold more than 62,000 electric cars and this year the brand wants to reach 100,000 units sold.

In addition, the German company has already set an arrival date for its 100% electric car: the BMW iNEXT will be presented in 2021 and will feature level 4 autonomous driving.