When the BMW i8 was unveiled the world, it took everyone by surprise with its futuristic design. Even to this day, the hybrid sports car seems like it was simply transported back in time from a future where 1.5-liter 3-cylinder engines are used in hypercars. The BMW i3 was also quite revolutionary, even though it wasn’t as unanimously accepted as a “thing of beauty”, it compensated through a unique driving experience.
Well, that’s all about to change according to BMW’s Design Chief, Adrian van Hooydonk. In a recent talk with Autocar, the man in charge of the design at BMW Group said the following:
“The fact is that BMW customers want a dynamic car, whether it is a battery-electric vehicle or not, and so there’s increasingly less reason to make these kinds of cars look different.”
“The i brand stands for inspiration and innovation, and electrification is not the only area of our industry that marks a significant change,” he said. “It’s pretty clear that there will still be i cars, and that the designers will be able to search for different things.”
How will that translate into future products remains to be seen, the most important car seemingly being the upcoming iNext model which will also be the brand’s flagship model.
The concept we’ve seen last month definitely shows a different take on what a car should look like, especially when it comes to the interior. That said, the iX3 is going down a completely different route, with its exterior design being a bit different from the regular X3 and the interior being roughly the same. It’s still interesting to see how all of this will pan out in the future.
i4 will be more important.
Maybe it’s time to replace hooydink before he blands BMW into another slump.
The guy who did the 745i Chris Bangle is still hated for today? Dude who did the car that outsold S Class while taking BMW to #1 global premium for 1st time? Dude who doubled model range & volume while putting recognizably BMW vehicles into new segments? i3, i8, X7 are “bland”?
Sometimes, I think, these company execs should think a little less, and dream a little more. Leave the designers to design and do your executive things with engineering and logistics. Why on earth would you not want to build on the i8s showstopper attribute – looks?
They should leave the “i design” language, we love them like that. I think they were inspired by the Jaguar I-Pace for them to start considering that their designs don’t have to be super “futuristic”. But for me I love them since their current ICE designs are boring and bland.