BMW: New class ahead

BMW: New class ahead

Oliver Zipse, CEO of BMW AG, promises: “With the Neue Klasse, we are implementing the largest future project in the company’s history.” The first series model of the New Class will be the BMW iX3 model. The sporty SAV (Sport Activity Vehicle) will be the starting signal for an unprecedented ramp-up of new models at the end of this year: Across all drive variants and segments, the BMW Group will bring more than 40 new and revised vehicles in various drive variants onto the market by 2027. All new models will be equipped with the future technology clusters, which will be continuously rolled out across the entire portfolio with the launch of the new class. Series production of the SAV model BMW iX3, which the BMW Vision Neue Klasse Pre-series vehicles have been manufactured there for testing since the end of 2024. BMW also wants to bring a sporty sedan onto the market in 2026.

Four high-performance computers

The BMW Group has achieved a high level of innovation in the development of its new technology clusters: numerous patents have been successfully registered, for example on components of the electric motor, projection technologies for the display or driving dynamic control functions. The vehicles' digital nervous system consists of a new on-board network and a further developed software architecture as well as four "superbrains". These high-performance computers bundle the computing power for the most important customer functions: infotainment, automated driving, driving dynamics and basic functions such as vehicle access, climate and comfort. The BMW Group is thus significantly reducing and centralizing the number of control devices - but at the same time increasing the computing power in the vehicle by more than twenty times. This means that the control devices can also display upcoming software and function updates including AI features.