BMW News

Continuing with this week’s apparent i8 theme, we’re happy to report that customers in the United States have finally started to take delivery of their new BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports cars. These special customers received the keys to their special cars at a very special place.

The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in Carmel, California is one of the premier automobile celebrations in the world. BMW chose this year’s event to show off the car that has had everyone talking—the BMW i8.

After delivering new i8s to a select group of customers on August 15th, BMW offered up for auction their one-of-a-kind 2014 BMW i8 Concours d’Elegance Edition to benefit the Pebble Beach Charitable Foundation.

Now, about that select group of BMW i8 customers. You may have heard of some of them. They include Roger Penske, one of the biggest names in all of motorsports, and Rick Hendrick, current owner of the second-largest privately held auto dealership group in the country and of course, Hendrick Motorsports.

At the BMW Villa at the Pebble Beach event, renowned Chef Thomas Keller hosted a dinner for some of the first BMW i8 owners which, not coincidentally, included Chef Keller. New BMW i8 owners also enjoying the celebratory dinner were Tony Fadell, Founder and CEO of Nest; Michael Fux, CEO of Mattress Revolution; John Hendricks, Founder of Discovery Communications; Barry Klarburg, Founder and CEO of Monarch Business and Wealth Management; Miles Nadal, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of MDC Partners; Sam Nazarian, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of SBE, and Patrick Wachsberger, Co-Chairman of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group.

“Today marks an exciting day for BMW of North America, as we take another step towards furthering sustainable mobility with the BMW i8, the plug-in hybrid sports car made with carbon fiber,” said Ludwig Willisch, President and CEO of BMW of North America. “We are proud to see the i8, the second of BMW i’s visionary vehicles, enter the market.”

Congratulations to the first BMW i8 owners in the U.S. We know some BMW CCA members who have i8s on order and they now know that deliveries of their new sports cars are getting closer. We look forward to hearing from the first of them who will use an i8 as their daily—or at least occasional—driver.—Scott Blazey