BMW has quietly announced when it will unveil its next concept car. To make its first appearance during the BMW Group Annual Conference 2024, the next showcar will break cover on March 21. Naturally, the German luxury marque remains tight-lipped about the vehicle, only saying it’s a “vision vehicle on the Road to Neue Klasse.”
This is the part where we begin to speculate what it might be. As a refresher, the original Vision Neue Klasse took the shape of a sedan in the 3 Series segment when it premiered in September 2023 at the IAA Mobility show in Munich. However, it’s a known fact the first production model on the dedicated electric car platform will be a crossover. In fact, the Bavarian marque has already shown a fully camouflaged prototype of what will eventually replace today’s CLAR-based iX3.
Perhaps we will see a concept car based on the crossover prototype pictured above? Another sedan? Whatever the case may be, surely, it’ll be a closer-to-production vehicle considering the first Neue Klasse-based model will go into production in 2025. We’re hearing BMW will get the ball rolling in July 2025 at its new Debrecen plant in Hungary before the sedan begins to roll off the assembly line in Munich in 2026. Other confirmed locations for NK-based models include Mexico and China.
What comes after the crossover and sedan? BMW is coy on details, although sources close to the company have suggested there will be an electric 3 Series Touring-like model and even something along the lines of an iX4. There might not even be a next-generation X4 with combustion engines since reports state only a pure electric crossover-coupe mashup will carry this name into the future.
At least six Neue Klasse models are scheduled to hit the market by 2028. These will be sold alongside the current crop of EVs based on platforms originally intended for cars with combustion engines: FAAR for the iX1 and iX2 and CLAR for the bigger models. It’s worth noting that although BMW already sells a fully electric 3 Series Sedan, the i3 is only available in China. The NK-based model will be a global model.
If you have a soft spot for internal codenames, here’s what we know so far: “NA5” is iX3, “NA0” is i3 Sedan, “NA1” is i3 Touring, and “NA7” is iX4. As is the case with BMW’s crop of gasoline-fueled M cars, the hot models are getting their own codenames: “ZA0” is M3 Sedan, “ZA5” is X3 M, “ZA1” is M3 Touring, and “ZA7” is X4 M.
In terms of actual product names, the Munich-based marque has already announced it won’t combine “i” with “M” so don’t expect an iM3 or something to that effect when it arrives around 2027 with a rumored 700 horsepower.
Source: BMW
