Neue Klasse Platform Is ‘Feasible’ For A Performance Car

It’s been over a 12 months since automotive paparazzi stunned us with pictures of this intriguing camouflaged car. Clearly a Neue Klasse coupe of some kind, the cloaked BMW was by no means seen once more. It stays unclear whether or not the automotive was supposed as an idea or a prototype. Nonetheless, the truth that it was caught in movement suggests the high-riding, two-door EV was a purposeful check automotive.

That coupe has since come and gone, with BMW staying tight-lipped the entire time. From what we’ve heard, nothing will come of that puzzling prototype. Nonetheless, that doesn’t imply Munich is totally closing the door on a Neue Klasse–based sports car. The corporate’s R&D boss, Joachim Submit, informed Australian media the brand new {hardware} makes it “possible” to engineer a devoted efficiency car.

In an interview with Drive journal, BMW’s board member for improvement defined that NK was engineered for a variety of fashions: “The philosophy of BMW additionally has been prior to now to… we are saying ‘baukasten,’ and that implies that we’ve got communal elements for several types of vehicles and completely different segments.” The German phrase interprets to “building equipment” or “constructing set,” making Neue Klasse a modular platform. Standardized elements may be mixed for a broad number of merchandise, from the new iX3 to a possible sports activities automotive.

Submit famous that the baukasten strategy permits BMW to launch 40+ new or updated cars by the end of 2027. As BMWBLOG completely reported, the iX5 and iX7 will undertake sixth-generation battery tech with spherical cells, even whereas retaining the CLAR platform. This excessive diploma of modularity not solely accelerates improvement but additionally considerably reduces engineering prices by way of economies of scale.

Nonetheless, the assertion is much from affirmation that an electrical sports activities automotive is on the way in which. The upcoming inflow of fashions will give attention to quantity merchandise, which is why the iX3 and next year’s i3 are main the rollout. Logic means that solely as soon as BMW’s Neue Klasse lineup is absolutely established would possibly there be room for a distinct segment product. The actual earnings come from core fashions, equivalent to SUVs and sedans, not low-volume vehicles. That’s simply how the cookie crumbles within the auto business.

BMW is, in spite of everything, a enterprise that should stay worthwhile to maintain the lights on, and a brand new sports activities automotive wouldn’t transfer the needle. Making it purely electrical wouldn’t improve its enchantment both; if something, it might have the alternative impact. For ICE loyalists, the inline-six and V8 aren’t going anyplace. M will proceed to refine the S58 and S68 to adjust to Euro 7 regulations, so the corporate’s largest-displacement engines nonetheless have a future.

Supply: Drive