Despite the success of it electric models, BMW still has long term confidence in demand for petrol and diesel vehicles. That is the view of Klaus Froehlich, who heads BMW research and development division.

In an interview with Automotive News Europe, Froehlich has predicted that it will take some 20 to 30 years before BMW stops production of petrol engines. With turbo diesel set to stay for around two decades and ultra efficient petrol engines to last even longer.  He also said the German car maker has high hopes for fuel cell technology.

Froehlich said he believed that BMW four and six-cylinder diesel engines would remain in production for another 20 years, with petrol units likely to remain for 30. He also predicted that worldwide,  electrified vehicles would be 20 to 30% of global sales by 2030.

Froehlich also painted a picture where electric vehicles may dominate in certain geographical locations. For example, he expects urban east cost China to quickly adopt electric vehicles, while the more rural west will continue to favour petrol cars. In Europe he said plug-in hybrids would play a key role,  taking up to a quarter of the market, with electric taking a further quarter, but petrol and diesel still accounting for 50% of sales over the next fifteen years.