Future BMW petrol cars to drop 'i' from the end of names. Know more

BMW has a very complex product lineup with a range of petrol, diesel, plug-in hybrid and electric cars. As the German luxury auto giant says, it wants to live up to its ‘Power of Choice’ ethos. Now, as the automaker is thriving towards a greener future with a wide range of electric cars planned, BMW has decided to give its petrol-powered car lineup an updated nomenclature. The company is reportedly mulling the idea of dropping ‘i’ letter from the end of all its petrol cars' names.

Bimmer Post reports that this move comes as part of the brand's strategy to make its lineup more linear and simple. BMW uses the ‘i’ letter in the ginning of its electric cars to signify their electric character. On the other hand, there are several petrol cars in the BMW lineup that come with the ‘i’ letter at the end of the nomenclature. This could be confusing for the consumers moving ahead when the number of electric cars with ‘i’ letter in the nomenclature increases. This is possibly the main reason why BMW wants to ditch the ‘i’ from the petrol cars' names to make things simplified.

The report claims the next-generation 1 Series, and X3, which are slated to enter production in the middle of 2024, will be among the first cars from BMW to receive the updated nomenclature. Internally codenamed F70, the next generation BMW 1 Series will come initially in 118 and quad-pipe M135 variants, alongside a couple of diesel versions. The diesel versions will retain their ‘d’ lettering in the names, which are 118d and 120d.

Interestingly, BMW is among the few automakers that have not yet decided to ditch the internal combustion engine technology completely in favour of electric cars, as the brand believes that the world won't be ready to embrace electric vehicles in the next decade completely. The ICE vehicles will continue to sell worldwide, believes BMW. It thinks the transition to pure electric mobility will take time, and there should not be a hurry for that.

In the meantime, it's reportedly planning to update its naming strategy to provide more clarity. A well-known BMW insider from the Bimmer Post forums claims the gasoline-only cars will lose the letter "i" from the end of their names starting with the new models coming from 2024. The next-generation 1 Series and X3 are believed to lead the way as both are expected to enter production in a little over a year from now: July 2024 for the hatch and August 2024 for the crossover.