BMW says has orders for nearly 10,000 of its electric i3 cars

A worker makes final checks at the serial production BMW i3 electric car in the BMW factory in Leipzig September 18, 2013. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

By Nichola Groom LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Luxury carmaker BMW has orders for nearly 10,000 of its i3 electric cars, the first of which were delivered in Germany last week, the company's global sales chief, Ian Robertson, said at the Los Angeles Auto Show on Wednesday. Robertson also said the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports car due to be introduced in mid-2014 has sold out for its first year of availability. He did not say how many the company will sell in that first year. The BMW i3 will go on sale in the U.S. market in the second quarter of 2014, he said. (Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Gary Hill)