BMW Launches I-Serie
Forget MegaCity. At the Geneva Motorshow, BMW will launch a new sub-brand that stands for low-emission vehicles and a new venture capital company. The brand will also remind people of the initially very controversial iDrive. Or the iPhone.
The BMW M, X, and Z series now get a new sibling. It’s the i series, with a lowercase i. It will first grace what used to be known as the MegaCity carbon fiber on aluminum pure plug-in. That will be the i3. It will be followed by an equally lightweight plug-in hybrid, called the i8.
And there is more that meets the i: According to the Financial Times, BMW said “that it was establishing a New York-based venture capital company called iVentures to invest in providers of premium mobility services. BMW said the fund would be capitalized at up to $100m.”
The fund will invest into providers of mobility services. First to receive funding from iVentures will be MyCityWay, a New York company that makes a “real-time, user-driven, location-aware urban reference app for mobile devices.” Such as the iPhone or the iPad.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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