This Is How All BMWs Will Look Soon—Even the Gas Ones

BMW‘s two Neue Klasse concepts preview a new generation of EVs defined by a revamped design language, futuristic in-car technology, and improved powertrains. While the German company is investing a substantial amount of money into its next electric models, it’s not forgetting about its gasoline-powered cars and the customers who buy them. It’s now confirmed that the Neue Klasse design will permeate internal combustion cars as well.

“The big push with EVs, these technologies and this design language, will transfer over the entire product portfolio, including our combustion vehicles. For the customer it won’t be difficult—they will all get new modern BMWs and they can choose the drivetrain,” Adrian van Hooydonk, the design director for the entire BMW Group, told Top Gear. He clarified that EVs and ICE cars will inevitably carry different proportions.

Unveiled in 2023 and named after one of BMW’s most important models, the Neue Klasse concept looks unlike any other car with a roundel on its nose. It remains recognizable as a BMW, but it features flat surfaces, big windows, short overhangs, and a sci-fi-esque take on the brand’s signature kidney grilles. Presented earlier in 2024, the Neue Klasse X concept illustrates how these design cues should translate to an SUV profile.

It’s relatively easy to make a concept look good, because designers are unfettered by concerns like safety regulations and production feasibility. It’s more difficult to transfer attractive styling and proportions to a mass-produced car. And yet, BMW says the two concepts haven’t changed significantly on their journey to sale. “You know how close the i3 and the i8 were to their concept cars, that’s what’s going to happen here,” van Hooydonk explained. “If anything I like the production cars better because they’re a bit more compact—we’ve exaggerated the length and width here.”

Domagoj Dukec, the former head of design for BMW and Rolls-Royce’s current lead designer, told The Drive that Neue Klasse is much more than simply an aesthetic. It represents a purer, less aggressive approach to creating a car that extends beyond exterior styling to aspects such as technology, the interior layout, and even the materials used. Shifts in consumer tastes and perceptions have shaped Neue Klasse, too.

“Neue Klasse is… more of a whole transformation in terms of making the car accepted again by society and politics. That’s what we mean by Neue Klasse: it’s much bigger than just an aesthetic approach. We want to turn the car from bad to good,” Dukec told me in September 2023.

We won’t have to wait long to see how the Neue Klasse concepts have evolved in their transition from the show floor to the showroom floor: The first model, an SUV developed to replace the electric iX3 sold in global markets, will make its debut in 2025. The second car is a 3 Series-sized sedan expected to land by the end of 2026, and both will be built on a new platform designed exclusively to underpin EVs. There’s no word on when we’ll see the first ICE Neue Klasse car, but van Hooydonk told Top Gear that BMW will launch five additional Neue Klasse cars by 2028.

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