BMW plans to launch multiple electric vehicles in the years ahead based on a next-generation platform promising more power and efficiency than the automaker’s current technology. The new vehicles are known as the Neue Klasse family, and the first to arrive will be a sedan and SUV sitting in the same segments as the 3-Series and X3.
BMW has already previewed the sedan with the Vision Neue Klasse concept revealed at the 2023 Munich auto show, and on March 21 we’ll get a preview of the SUV with the reveal of the Vision Neue Klasse X concept. The reveal will coincide with BMW’s annual general meeting taking place at the automaker’s Munich headquarters.
A teaser photo posted to social media on Monday provides a glimpse of the concept’s silhouette. The design of the window frames, particularly the A-pillar, looks to have the same rigid form to what’s found on the previous Vision Neue Klasse concept, and the finer details like the lights and grille should also be similar to what’s found on the sedan concept.
Prototypes for the production model have already been spotted. The production model will be similar in size to the X3 which is about to be redesigned. Expect it to be called an iX3, the name BMW uses for the current electric X3 sold overseas. Likewise, the sedan will likely be called an i3, a name already used on an electric version of the current 3-Series sedan sold exclusively in China.
BMW Vision Neue Klasse concept
Four more Neue Klasse EVs will follow in quick succession, though these will most likely be different versions of the initial sedan and crossover, such as a wagon or coupe-like crossover.
The first Neue Klasse EV, possibly the SUV, will be built at a plant under construction in Debrecen, Hungary, starting in 2025. The timing points to it arriving in the U.S. as a 2026 model.
Neue Klasse EVs will also be built at existing BMW plants in Germany and China, starting in 2026, and in San Luis PotosÃ, Mexico, starting in 2027.
