BMW To Reveal 40 Unique Neue Klasse Models In the Next Two Years
We just got a look at the new BMW iX3, which is the automaker’s first to use its Neue Klasse design philosophy. As expected, BMW has a range of new models based on the platform in the works, and it recently said it would deliver more than 40 new models with the design language in the next two years.
BMW design chief Adrian van Hooydonk promised that each model would be unique, saying they would have “very different features and characteristics.” He also said, “We have grown our range in the last couple of years and in the last decades, and the secret to that success is that we offer real choices to our customers. We offer a family resemblance, but it’s not Russian dolls. We’re going to continue in that vein with this new family.”
The Neue Klasse philosophy simplifies BMW’s design language, doing away with some of the sharper, more aggressive lines in favor of a smoother, more modern look. That said, van Hooydonk said M models would be “more expressive” than standard models. He also believes the new look will help improve resale values, as many people have shied away from the brand’s polarizing designs from the last several years.
[Images: BMW]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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"He also believes the new look will help improve resale values, as many people have shied away from the brand’s polarizing designs from the last several years."
That's quite the statement considering BMW has spent the past two decades defending the gaudification of their styling, of which van Hooydonk is complicit.
It's fine for me. I like the evolutionary promise of this new design language, as BMW has largely been in this strange holding pattern after the Chris Bangle-led provocateurs of the aughts failed to take root. I wish they'd stop trying to make honking kidney grilles a thing again, though. I've yet to come across a modern iteration where they don't feel forced.
What an absolute joke of a once proud marque.