BMW CEO says they aren't done with internal combustion engines

Most of the auto industry is undergoing a massive shift away from fossil fuels, but BMW CEO Oliver Zipse says his company "has no plans to stop developing internal combustion engines." This statement comes only a day after rival Audi's boss Marcus Duesman declared that they've already stopped developing ICEs.

Duesman made the statement in an interview with Germany's Automobilwoche, citing upcoming Euro 7 emission standards that he called (translated from German) "a huge technical challenge." Instead, Audi will adapt its current ICEs to meet those standards. Interestingly, he also claimed the Euro 7 standards "have little benefit for the environment."

Meanwhile, BMW made a sweeping announcement yesterday about new electric models and the fact that BMW-owned Mini would be electric-only by 2030, debuting its last ICE model in 2025. Still, head honcho Zipse told CNBC's Phil LeBeau it wasn't finished with internal combustion "because demand for ICE vehicles will remain robust for many years to come." With that said, BMW does expect half of its car sales to be electric by 2030.

Back in 2019, Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler's head of development Markus Schäfer told Auto Motor und Sport that there were no plans for new ICEs, but would not rule out restarting work on them in the future.