Yahoo Autos The BMW Vision Neue Klasse X Previews Future Electric Crossovers
Last year, 203,771 of the 362,244 cars BMW sold in the United States were classified as light trucks. It is an odd twist; a brand built from the ground up on sport sedans has now become known for what it calls "Sport Activity Vehicles" first and foremost. BMW has already unveiled a look at future sedans with its Vision Neue Klass concept, but the brand's plans for future SUVs are even more important to its long-term business interests.
This is the Vision Neue Klasse X, a look at the brand's plans for its future SUVs and crossovers. Like the Neue Klasse concept, it represents a transformative shift from BMW's current era of massive kidney grilles to a new design language built on sharp noses, angular surfacing lines, and glassy, high-tech cabins. In other words, it is a completely new take on the core design tenets that got BMW here in the first place.
On the Neue Klasse sedan, the brand's iconic kidney grilles are reimagined as wide pieces that extend from a pair of diagonal headlights to the center of the car. The Neue Klasse X drops that idea, integrating the same headlights into something that looks more like a traditional BMW grille: a long bar of trim extending from double headlights toward two smaller, vertical kidneys in the middle. Of course, this is a 2024 BMW concept, so those kidneys are still lit up by LEDs.
From the kidney grilles, two M4-like bulges in the hood stretch back toward a relatively large greenhouse that ends with a straightforward interpretation of the brand's signature Hofmeister kink. The rear of the car is not all that different from the current BMW iX, with wide tail lights angled around a central badge.
Inside, all of that glass makes for an airy cabin with an aggressive white and red two-tone finish. The central screen is angled and finished with a Hofmeister kink like the one on the Neue Klasse sedan, although the Neue Klasse X adds additional screens called BMW Panoramic Vision below the driver's eye and along the windscreen. Also like the Neue Klasse sedan, the steering wheel features four spokes for a fully symmetrical design.
The car also includes a new feature called "HYPERSONX WHEEL," which BMW says is part of a "Personal Sound Experience" that allows passengers to "enjoy their favorite sound" from an adjustable control mechanism in the car. In signature German car press release vernacular, BMW says that this is "an innovative contribution to the immersive and holistic user experience that transforms the interior of the BMW Vision Neue Klasse X into a personal experience space." None of that clarifies what exactly a HYPERSONX WHEEL does or accomplishes, but it sounds pleasant.
The Neue Klasse X, like the Neue Klasse sedan, will likely eventually lead to a dedicated line of production EVs built on this electric-only platform. Given how unique the concepts look, the production cars should be among BMW's most visually exciting products ever.
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