Garage Italia Customs visits the BMW Group.

Munich. Lapo Elkann, President and Founder of Garage Italia Customs, visits the BMW Group and shows the BMW i8 Futurism Edition to Adrian van Hooydonk, Head of BMW Group Design.

“Garage Italia Customs and the BMW brand both share all the values connected to technology evolution and the continuous search for innovation in their specific sectors” stated Lapo Elkann.

BMW Italia and Garage Italia Customs have created the BMW i8 Futurism Edition to celebrate 50 years of BMW history in Italy. The Edition combines the icon of future mobility with the Italian art of Giacomo Balla.

“Lampada ad Arco”, the work of Giacomo Balla, is replicated on the car. The original painting hangs in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It represents a street lamp powered by electricity under moonlight. The revolutionary color technique and the advent of electricity in the 1900s are strictly linked to the future technology of the BMW i8. The upholstery in the interior shows iridescent reflections when hit by light and is made by Solaro, a fabric that is used for suits.

BMW i stands for visionary vehicle concepts and technologies, as well as a new understanding of premium that is strongly defined by sustainability. BMW i is represented in 50 countries with the BMW i3 (electric car for metropolitan areas) and the BMW i8 (plug-in-hybrid sports car). The BMW i8 is the world’s best-selling hybrid sports car and represents an icon of future mobility.

“There was immediate synergy with BMW Italia the very first time we met for the i8 Futurism Edition project. The BMW i8 Futurism Edition is a practice of style. It gave the Garage Italia Customs Maestros a chance to celebrate a car which is projected towards the future of mobility. At the same time, it honours Italian art with Giacomo Balla, who is a prominent figure of the Futurism movement” said Lapo Elkann.

A bout BMW i

BMW i is a brand of the BMW Group, playing the role of an incubator for networked mobility services, visionary vehicle concepts and a new understanding of premium which is strongly defined by sustainability. BMW i is represented in 50 countries with the BMW i3 (electric car for metropolitan regions) and the BMW i8 (plug-in hybrid sports car). BMW i also encompasses BMW iPerformance (all BMW plug-in hybrid automobiles), DriveNow (CarSharing), ReachNow (CarSharing 2.0), ChargeNow (easy access to the world’s largest charging point network), ParkNow (simple location, reservation and payment of parking spaces), the venture capital company BMW i Ventures (investment in start-up enterprises with a focus on urban mobility) and the BMW i Urban Mobility Competence Centre (consulting for cities).

Further information on official fuel consumption figures, specific CO2 emission values and the electric power consumption of new passenger cars is included in the following guideline: “Leitfaden über Kraftstoffverbrauch, die CO2-Emissionen und den Stromverbrauch neuer Personenkraftwagen” (Guideline for fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and electric power consumption of new passenger cars), which can be obtained from all dealerships, from Deutsche Automobil Treuhand GmbH (DAT), Hellmuth-Hirth-Str. 1, 73760 Ostfildern-Scharnhausen and at http://www.dat.de/en/offers/publications/guideline-for-fuel-consumption.html. Leitfaden CO2 (Guideline CO2) (PDF ‒ 2.7 MB) .

In case of queries please contact:

Paloma Brunckhorst

Product Communications BMW i, BMW iPerformance

Tel.: +49-89-382-22322

E-Mail: Paloma.Brunckhorst@bmwgroup.com

Internet: www.press.bmwgroup.com

E-mail: presse@bmw.de

The BMW Group

 With its three brands BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce, the BMW Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also provides premium financial and mobility services. As a global company, the BMW Group operates 31 production and assembly facilities in 14 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2015, the BMW Group sold approximately 2.247 million cars and nearly 137,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax for the financial year 2015 was approximately € 9.22 billion on revenues amounting to € 92.18 billion. As of 31 December 2015, the BMW Group had a workforce of 122,244 employees.

The success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain, comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy.

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