Even BMW's Gas Cars Will Look Like EVs

BMW’s Neue Klasse concepts offered a glimpse into the future of the brand’s upcoming design language. The Neue Klasse sedan debuted in 2023, and the Neue Klasse X crossover showed up earlier this year. But while many of us assumed those two concepts would preview the next era of BMW’s electric vehicles, head of design Adrian van Hooydonk says that won’t be the case.

In an interview with Top Gear at this year’s Paris Motor Show, van Hooydonk said that every upcoming BMW will use cues from the Neue Klasse concepts—combustion cars included. Some cars will be available in both gas and electric flavors, with slightly different design elements (and proportions) to set them apart.

“The big push with EVs, these technologies, and this design language, will transfer over the entire product portfolio including our combustion vehicles,” said van Hooydonk. “For the customer, it won’t be difficult—they will all get new modern BMWs and they can choose the drivetrain.”

That’s good news if you’re a fan of BMW’s Neue Klasse design language. Even more promising is that van Hooydonk thinks the production models will look “even better” than the concepts.

“You know how close the i3 and i8 were to their concept cars? That’s what’s going to happen here. If anything I like the production cars better because they’re a bit more compact,” he said.

BMW will have at least five Neue Klasse models on the road by 2029. That includes a new 3 Series—and an M3—an SUV or two, and even a sporty, high-riding coupe that we caught the company testing just a few months ago. The first of the Neue Klasse models could debut as early as next year, with the majority of which arriving in 2026 and beyond.

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