BMW introduced the Vision Neue Klasse sedan last September at the IAA Mobility show in Munich. This week, it took the wraps off its SUV counterpart, aptly named the Vision Neue Klasse X. Based on this chronology, you’d be tempted to say the saloon will be the first to go on sale. However, when the new Debrecen plant in Hungary starts making cars next year, it’s the SUV that will roll off the assembly line.
We decided to ask the company’s R&D Frank Weber why the iX3 will be released before the i3, even though the sedan was previewed first: “The decision to start with the crossover is strategic because today half of BMW’s sales, globally, are of ‘X’ vehicles. Which means that there are regions where they weigh up to two-thirds and these models are leaders in their segment.”
Weber added that the development of the two concepts was finalized concomitantly, and the Vision Neue Klasse pair represents “archetypes of almost all BMWs of the future.” The sedan will follow in roughly a year, with production scheduled to start later in 2026 at the Munich plant in Germany. An additional four models are planned for a release by 2028, but the luxury automaker remains tight-lipped about their identities. That said, an electric M3 has been officially confirmed.
What else can we expect? Our money is on derivatives of the iX3 and i3 sedan, such as a sleeker iX4 crossover and an i3 Touring wagon. While BMW doesn’t say what will come after the initial SUV and sedan duo, it has announced plans to build Neue Klasse-based cars in Shenyang (China) from 2026 as well as at the San Luis Potosi (Mexico) factory from 2027. Later this decade, EVs will come alive from Regensburg (Germany).
BMW is gearing up to make six electric vehicles in the United States at the Spartanburg factory in South Carolina. These will all likely be SUVs but it’s unclear how many will be underpinned by Neue Klasse. Although the dedicated electric architecture is right around the corner, there are still plans to build next-gen EVs on the existing CLAR.
