BMW i8 Deliveries Taking Up To 18 Months

Supply and demand drives the economy in its simplest form, and some automakers would rather limit supply in order to induce demand. Since there’s no lack of demand for the $136,000 BMW i8 hybrid supercar though, the German automaker is considering increasing production to reduce wait times for well-heeled buyers.

Automotive News reports that would-be buyers of the i8 are facing wait times of up to 18 months, and some buyers have paid 50% over the MSRP just to get behind the wheel of the plug-in sports car. BMW says that six months should be the maximum length of time people should have to wait to get a bespoke BMW i8, but in some markets the wait could be costing BMW potential customers.

So far in 2014 BMW has delivered some 760 cars to customers around the world, including over 400 in October. Those are no doubt customers who placed their orders earlier in the year; but somebody wanting to put money down on a BMW i8 today might not see it until mid-2016. That’s a long time to wait for a six-figure vehicle, but good things come to those who wait I suppose.

Of course long wait times for in-demand products are nothing new. Even with the recent factory retooling, many Tesla customers need to wait two or three months before taking delivery of their personalized Model S. There are more than 20,000 deposits for the upcoming Model X too, but those placing an order today were recently told that they shouldn’t expect their cars until “well into” 2016.

Who would have thought that two of the most in-demand cars would both be plug-ins?