BMW plans to take on Tesla with ‘Neue Klasse’
electric vehicle - as the German automaker seeks to replicate past successes to catch up with trailblazer Tesla. During the early 1960s, BMW was a struggling enterprise with an uncertain future, overshadowed by Volkswagen , Mercedes-Benz and the giants of Detroit.
The company's leaders put all their chips behind a new car they called the "Neue Klasse," or "new class." Launched in 1962 as the BMW 1800, the Neue Klasse set the German automaker on course to become "the ultimate driving machine" company and one of the most successful brands in any industry. Now, BMW is at another crossroads, and is turning again to a "Neue Klasse" to drive a new strategic direction.
BMW debuted at the Munich autoshow on Saturday a prototype for a "Neue Klasse" electric vehicle (EV) roughly the size of the current 3-series, the company's best-selling model line. The show car features panoramic information "head-up" displays projected on the windshield, as well as some traditional BMW design elements such as a distinctive angle - the Hofmeister kink named for the designer of the original Neue Klasse - in the rear side windows and the dashboard screen.
"We want to make this vehicle generation so modern that it looks like we skipped one generation," BMW Chief Designer Adrian van Hooydonk said. "That is necessary because of those new players that are coming in.
You know the debate that’s been going on: Oh, traditional OEM (manufacturer) over 100 years old, can you make this step? We can and we want to." The show car previews a multibillion-euro effort to jump the technology gap with Tesla and other EV makers that are winning customers with models and software-driven features many current BMWs do not match. That is despite BMW being relatively
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