Hyperdrive
BMW Drags Feet on Merkel's Call for German Battery Champions
- No sense for every carmaker to make own cells, BMW CFO says
- Carmaker, government meeting on clean cars produces no result
Newly assembled BMW i3 electric automobiles sit on the final quality control line at the Bayerische Motoren Werke AG factory in Leipzig, Germany, on Thursday, March 14, 2019.
Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
BMW AG isn’t showing much enthusiasm to get on board with a German government push to establish battery cell production in Europe, slowing a plan to create an industry that keeps pace with Asian rivals and get on the front foot on elusive climate goals.
“I don’t believe it makes sense for every carmaker to make their own cells,” BMW’s Chief Financial Officer Nicolas Peter told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Munich Tuesday. The company is happy to join a consortium or work with existing producers, but doesn’t see the need to go beyond that, he said.