The automotive world is on the cusp of its biggest transformation yet. Car makers are trying to keep up with the demand and customers seem to be more and more interested in electric cars than ever.

BMW is no exception and the the company published its financial results for last year, in an attempt to keep stock exchange investors happy during one of the worst turmoils on the market ever recorded. BMW stocks took a hit yesterday of about 10 percent overall, even though the publishing of its financial results make a tiny, positive contribution.

In this brief, the Bavarians also mentioned their plans for the future and how they forecast the industry will shape up. Research and development costs have been on a steady upward trend for the last few years and they are expected to grow even more, affecting profits on the long term.

This is why BMW will be aiming to save about 12 billion euros by the end of 2022 by streamlining its development processes and creating leaner structures. Among other things, development times for new vehicle models will be reduced by as much as one third.

“On the product side, up to 50 per cent of traditional drivetrain variants will be eliminated from 2021 onwards in the transition to creating enhanced, intelligent vehicle architectures – in favour of additional electrified drivetrains. It is in this area that the full impact of these measures will come into effect, particularly in the years after 2022,” said BMW in a statement released yesterday.

That means the Munich-based company is expecting customers to switch to electrified cars quite a lot by 2022.

But what will BMW offer instead? Well, the company will work on its plug-in hybrid offers and on its EV range. They highlighted the aim of bringing out 25 electrified cars by 2022, out of which more than half will apparently be fully electric.

Furthermore, there are plans to offer even more new models “especially in segments where the rates of return are highest”. Translated, that means more cars at the upper end of the range, in the shape of big, luxurious SUVs.

The X8 is, apparently, also in the works.