According to BMW, in 2015 the German manufacturer sold more hybrid sports cars than every other manufacturer combined. And to celebrate, they are breaking out the red paint!
In 2015 BMW sold 5456 units of the i8 hybrid, which is powered by the combination of a three-cylinder turbocharged engine and an electric drive system, worldwide, beating the combined total of all other hybrid sports cars sold.
Considering that the "others" pretty much just consist of the ultra-limited Porsche 918, McLaren P1 and Ferrari LaFerrari hypercars, that isn't terribly surprising, however.
Since entering the market in late 2013, BMW's i brand has regularly increased its sales, and in 2015, sales of the BMW i3 and BMW i8 were around 66 per cent up on the previous year with a combined total of 29,513 deliveries. BMW currently offers the BMW i3 in 36 countries.
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To celebrate this success BMW have announced a run of limited edition i8s, starting off with a red one that will debut at the Geneva motor show. That's right, a red one.
The BMW i8 Protonic Red Edition will be built in Leipzig from July and is what BMW says is the first in a line of special-edition models the company is planning, each of which will only be available for a limited time.
The special-edition sports a Protonic Red paint finish with accents in Frozen Grey metallic, as well as a set of BMW W-spoke 470 light-alloy wheels painted in Orbit Grey metallic with hubs painted in aluminium matt.
Inside the red special-edition i8, red double-stitching (surprise!) and applications in carbon fibre and ceramic or the major changes over the standard car.