BMW’s electric dreams
BMW announced today that it is to accelerate the rollout of its electric cars, addressing criticism from some quarters it has fallen behind the competition having been ahead of it with the original launch of the i3.
BMW said that it will release 25 fully electric or hybrid models by 2023, which is two years earlier than scheduled. BMW forecasts that EV sales should increase by about 30% per annum.
In terms of specific models, BMW will release the iX3 SUV next year followed by the iNext and the i4 cars in 2021. The all-electric Mini, built in Oxford, goes on sale this year.
This is all very well, but there will be a plethora of EVs being released by everyone and their dog from next year onwards, so it remains to be seen how many are actually sold given a generally unfavourable economic backdrop and car sales being weaker across the board.
Yes, EV sales are rising – but it’s from a VERY low base.
New Look’s disappointing performance
The second thing I wanted to mention today was New Look’s disappointing performance as it announced a full-year loss of over £500m amid “challenging” conditions that included Brexit concerns and bad weather.
It didn’t help matters by also being downbeat about the outlook.
Mind you, in an effort to turn things around, the fashion retailer has already closed over 80 shops under its CVA and has pulled out of China and Eastern Europe, rejigged its finances and made annualised cost savings of £80m quicker than expected – with more to come.
The company appears to be on the right track with its restructuring, but it’s not actually “job done” just yet.
