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BMW Vision Neue Klasse, next-gen Mini due out at Munich auto show

Munich replaced Frankfurt on the global auto show circuit in 2021, and the shift works in the BMW Group's favor — one of Europe's biggest automotive events now takes place in its backyard. The company has detailed the new BMW and Mini models it will bring to the 2023 show. One of the most important unveilings for BMW — and likely one of the most noteworthy cars we'll see displayed at the Munich show — is the Vision Neue Klasse. More than merely a concept car, the design study will serve as an accurate preview of how BMW's entire range will evolve in the coming years. We haven't seen it yet, but we're told it's packed with electrification- and digitalization-related innovations. While the brand notes that the Vision Neue Klasse will be on the road "before long," it's reasonable to assume that the plug-in hybrid variants of the eighth-generation 5 Series that will also debut in Munich are closer to reaching production. Two models called 530e xDrive and 550e xDrive are due out in spring 2024, though it's too early to tell whether we'll see them on our shores. The former uses a hybrid system built around a four-cylinder engine, while the latter benefits from a straight-six. In both systems, the electric motor is integrated into an eight-speed automatic transmission. The 530e and the 550e put 299 and 489 horsepower, respectively, under the driver's right foot. BMW notes that integrating the 19.4-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack into the 5's underbody lowers the center of gravity while keeping trunk space intact. The 530e can drive for up to 63 miles on electric power, a figure that drops to 56 miles for buyers who select the 550e, though both numbers were achieved on the optimistic WLTP testing cycle used in Europe. Both cars come with a 7.4-kilowatt charger. Mini will unveil two new models at the Munich show: the next-generation Cooper (which replaces the Hardtop, or the Hatch if you're reading this from the United Kingdom) and the next-generation Countryman. Both models will be available with gasoline or electric power. We've seen the Hardtop's new-look interior in official images, it notably loses the outgoing model's instrument cluster and gains a round OLED screen in the middle of the dashboard, and we've seen the little hatchback undisguised in spy shots. Spy shots have also revealed the next-generation Countryman, which wears a boxier-looking exterior design and seemingly grows in size, before the official unveiling in Munich.

Daily Driver: 2016 BMW X1

Daily Driver videos are micro-reviews of vehicles in the Autoblog press fleet, reviewed by the staffers that drive them every day. Today's Daily Driver features the 2016 BMW X1, reviewed by Alex Kierstein. You can watch the video above or read a transcript below. And don't forget to watch more Autoblog videos at /videos. Show full video transcript text [00:00:00 ]Hey, everybody. I'm Senior Editor Alex Kierstein and today we're driving the 2016 BMW X1. It's replacing the old X1 and the old X1 was based on BMW's traditional rear-wheel drive platform. That meant the engine was positioned longitudinally, that's north/south in the engine bay. In this application, we've got a transversely mounted turbo charged inline four, making 228 horsepower. [00:00:30] It displaces 2.0 liters and it's part of BMW's new modular engine family. It's a nice engine. It's smooth. It sounds good and it's got a lot of power. This is a little lighter than the previous car. This one weighs 3,660 pounds versus the old X1's 3800 and some change. It's a little bit lighter. The dimensions aren't that much different. If you're wondering why it got smaller, that's because it's using a platform [00:01:00] shared with a lot of BMW's Mini products. This is really the fruition of BMW's investment in the Mini brand because now they're able to use those platforms in the engines they developed for those models in BMWs. This X1 has an 8-speed automatic transmission and it's really a pretty good trans. It kicks down quickly if you call for it to give you some power and for the most part it's smooth and kind of out of your way. [00:01:30] Where Minis are sort of raucous when you really whomp in it, this is a little more restrained. It still delivers power like many of the current turbocharged Minis out there, but there's more refinement here. I really like the external styling on this car. It's wearing this really lovely shade of dark blue and BMW's current styling language lends itself really well to this shape [00:02:00]. It looks really tidy and it's not really that complex or interesting of a shape. It's very much the traditional two-box CUV kind of exterior look and profile, but the detailing is nice. It looks sharp. It looks like a premium product and it looks like a more expensive product than a similar Mini would. BMW used to pride themselves on having simple uncluttered interfaces and even the sort of trimmed down iDrive that's in this unit [00:02:30]. Works pretty well.

Automakers paying Chinese dealers for lower-than-expected sales

The Chinese dealers vs. foreign manufacturers story won't quit. It began with a story on the struggles faced by FAW-Toyota joint venture dealers, with supposedly 95 percent of the showrooms losing money, and 10 percent of them doing so poorly that they'd have to exit the business. The problem is mandated sales targets, most set when the country's economy was racing. Now that things have slowed, China's dealers are swimming in unsold cars and the costs to keep them. In the case of FAW-Toyota, dealers asked Toyota to hand over 2.2 billion yuan ($355 million) to help address the situation. That was followed by a report noting the issues that Honda, BMW, and Nissan dealers are having with the same issue, revealing that the Chinese Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) had taken the highly unusual step of writing to the Chinese government to complain. Now Reuters reports that CADA is not only pressing its case even harder, it's being open about it: it announced that BMW agreed to pay dealers 5.1 billion yuan ($820 million) to alleviate poor profits last year. Unnamed sources said Audi has thrown 2 billion yuan into the kitty for subsidies, and Daimler has contributed "about 1 billion yuan" to its dealers. The battle isn't just about 2014, but how business will be run in 2015 as well: Chinese Porsche dealers have requested the automaker lower its 2015 target of 64,000 cars, which would be a 40-percent increase on its 2014 sales of 46,931 vehicles. One analyst called it "shocking" that the CADA has taken its fight public, while CADA comments continue to imply that dealers have been railroaded to the cliff's edge without recourse. "Due to the difference in status," it's deputy secretary said, "individual dealers are not willing to, or don't dare to, talk frankly with the carmakers...." Both parties need one another, so they'll figure out a way to make it work – but that could mean acknowledging the Chinese market is behaving more like a mature one, not an emerging one. News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images Earnings/Financials Audi BMW Porsche Toyota Car Dealers Luxury