BMW, the Bavarian autohaus hailing from Munich, Germany prides itself on creating the best luxurious cars that offer consumers the most amount of driving fun and comfort.
Throughout its 106-year history, they gave the world fantastic cars and motorcycles. Yet their specialty lies within their magnificent engines – which provided everyone the pure dynamic driving experience they so willingly desire.
However, times have changed and the company decided to move along with it. So in 2011, They formed a sub-brand called “BMW i” which aims to produce plug-in electric or hybrid-powered vehicles.
After some thorough research and development, they took the world by storm by launching their developments through the all-electric i3 city car and the hybrid i8 sports car. However, the times were not in their favor given electric vehicles weren’t that well received by the public just yet.
Yet come 2022, BMWi took a second shot by releasing their new batch of all-electric vehicles; the iX sports activity vehicle (SAV), i4 liftback sedan, and the i7 luxury sedan. And this time, a much better reception was achieved as the world now shifts itself from combustion engines to electric-powered vehicles to address various environmental, and even financial concerns.
The BMW iX first made itself known to the Philippine market in April 2022 and its release was taken with immense positivity by the public—as stated by Spencer Yu, the President of SMC Asia Car Distributors Corp. BMW released five iX models to the Philippine market and were quickly sold out, causing the company to prepare more orders to suit growing demands.
The BMW iX made its second round of publicity at the Philippine International Motor Show (PIMS) where it prides itself on being a BMW that was purposely built from the ground up—to be the forefront of all electric vehicles.
Ernest Taver, area manager for sales with SMC Asia Corporation, the importer and distributor for BMW Philippines, mentioned that the iX is suited to the theme and market as the SAV fits all of the necessities such as being tall, practical, and clean, while still offering the dynamic driving that all BMWs offer.
“It doesn’t mean just because we are in a third world country it doesn’t mean that we will be stuck in the dark ages; Relying on fossil fuels and combustion engines, you know there are those consumers that are morally responsible as well and I would believe Bmw buyers as well. So that’s one of the reasons why we introduced this car in the market,”
The iX hits the local shelves at PHP6, 290,000 making it an expensive luxury vehicle. However, BMW states that despite their brand being in the luxury segment, they see huge potential in the Philippine market as the nation slowly starts to rise economically and shift itself towards cleaner energy—with the full shift to EV vehicles following it. Therefore, making the iX, a symbol for the Philippines’ bright future, stand as an economic and environmental powerhouse.
