MUNICH, Germany — Against the background of increasingly crowded urban agglomerations and under pressure to reduce greenhouse emissions, BMW has announced to develop what it calls "entirely new vehicle concepts." In this context, the company also considers to build all-electric cars.

At the company's annual balance press conference yesterday (March 18), BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer announced the company will decide during the current year if it will produce a battery-powered car. "The electro motor is an option for us," Reithofer said. "By now, the technology allows to combine electric drives with fun in driving. Against this background, we are considering to produce battery-powered electric cars."

In addition, the company has launched a research project, called "Project i" which has the task to develop new vehicle concepts for all urban agglomerations of the world. According to Reithofer, the project has all degrees of freedom to act within and beyond BMW's organizational structures. "Its mission is to offer detailed solutions in the first half of the next decade," Reithofer said.

In addition, Reithofer announced the availability of a hybrid drive BMW for 2009. At the Geneva Automobile Salon two weeks ago, the company had shown a prototype of such a car.