BMW USA has just published its sales results for the third quarter. The demand rose by 24% to 96,886 units, but two entries in the Tally surprised us. Someone bought an i3 that had not previously been sold, while another person drove home in a “new” 6 Series Gran Turismo. It has been a while ago that one of these models has been sold in the USA.
The Leipzig plant built the very last flowback baking i3 more than three years ago. Production ended in June 2022 after a nine -year run, in which 250,000 units were produced. It is understandable that the remaining inventory would not disappear overnight, but it is unusual that someone is still on a dealer property during the time in the July August.
Technically speaking, BMW never retired the i3 badge. While the quirky city car is history, the alphanumeric code is now part of a completely different vehicle: an electric 3 series series based on the limousine sedan built and sold in China. The name will go globally again next year with the i3 based in new class.
As for the 6 Series GT, it is before the death of the i3. BMW USA stopped the five-door Gran tourer for the 2020 model year. The “G32” received a facelifting this year, but the update never made it to North America. Production in Dingolfing lasted until 2023, whereby the Chennai plant in India built the model in the first half of 2024.
It would be fascinating to know how many buyers paid for these cars who were sitting at dealers for so long. The i3 started at 45,445 US dollars, while the 6 Series GT of 71,295 US dollars were available before options. Since this type of car does not estimate after the production ended, these customers may have achieved solid offers. After all, retailers are always motivated to move the aging inventory.
BMW plans to resume the I1 segment with the upcoming I1 EV later this decade. However, a successor to the 6 Series GT seems unlikely. Like the smaller 3 Series GT, its audience never really found it and left both models as the ultimately failed experiments.
Source: BMW
