Automakers don’t just make money from making and selling brand new cars. The service, spare parts and used vehicle market also brings great profits to automotive companies. Although BMW is included in these companies, the company has an interesting request from its users.
In a statement, BMW’s responsible name for sustainability, Monika Dernai, wanted BMW owners to use the same car for a longer period of time by maintaining their vehicles instead of replacing them every few years.
Sustainability and reducing waste are the key
Meeting with members of the press in London, Dernai stated that the automotive industry has reached the point where customers need to use their vehicles for a longer period of time in order to reduce their waste. “We really need to think about extending the life of vehicles; maybe buy a car and extend its life instead of a second hand market where they sell cars to each other. The idea might be to renew the interior of the car.” used the phrases.
In Dernai’s view, in the future, vehicles should transform into structures that generally need to be modular and interchangeable. For example, instead of selling the vehicle and buying a new vehicle, there may be alternatives such as updating the seats or the dashboard of the vehicle with a newer version.
While this kind of approach may seem to please people who own cars like the new 3 series or X3, it seems that the transition to electric vehicles, which is a newly adopted technology in the coming years, will not allow the demand for second hand to decrease.
BMW calls this approach the “circular economy” and envisions products being reused and recycled as much as possible before they become waste. Darnei and BMW argue that this approach will not harm the automotive industry, but automotive manufacturers can be pioneers in reducing waste.