BMW LAUNCHES NEUE KLASSE WITH GLOBAL DEBUT OF ELECTRIC iX3
BMW has unveiled the Neue Klasse in Munich, marking its biggest investment to date and a new era of electrification, digitalisation and sustainable design.
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BMW has launched a new brand era with the global debut of its Neue Klasse in Munich, laying the foundation for the company’s future in electrification, digitalisation and circularity.
The Neue Klasse represents BMW’s largest-ever investment and applies not only to an all-new generation of vehicles arriving from late 2025 into 2026, but also to technologies, manufacturing processes and operations across the company’s value chain.
The name evokes the pivotal 1961 launch of the original Neue Klasse, which introduced the 1500 sedan and helped re-establish BMW as a global automotive force.
At the heart of the 2025 debut is the fully electric iX3 Sports Activity Vehicle, one of six models to be launched with Neue Klasse DNA over the next two years.
The iX3 integrates BMW’s latest electric drive system with a driving range of up to 805 kilometres (WLTP) and high-speed charging capability. Its design references BMW heritage with monolithic surfaces, precise lines and a new light signature.
Inside, the cabin is bright and expansive, showcasing innovations such as the Panoramic iDrive, which projects key information across the windscreen on a specially developed 43.3-inch surface.
Other features include a 17.9-inch Central Display in free-cut design, a floating instrument panel with backlit fabric, large window surfaces and a panoramic sunroof. Sustainability has been a core focus, with BMW citing a 42 per cent smaller carbon footprint in the supply chain compared with the previous model.
The iX3 also introduces new computing power, including the “Heart of Joy” system that manages the drive system to deliver greater efficiency and driving pleasure.
Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, said the Neue Klasse represents a landmark transformation for the brand.
“The Neue Klasse is our biggest future-focused project and marks a huge leap forward in terms of technologies, driving experience and design,” he said.
“Practically everything about it is new, yet it is also more BMW than ever. What started as a bold vision has now become reality: the BMW iX3 is the first Neue Klasse model to go into series production.”
Production of the iX3 will begin at BMW’s new plant in Debrecen, Hungary, later this year. Vehicles for the Australian market will enter production from March 2026, with local deliveries expected by mid-2026.
The first variant for Australia will be the BMW iX3 50 xDrive.
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The global architecture studio behind some of Sydney’s most recognisable towers unveils Civic Vision, its first Australian exhibition, celebrating more than five decades of design shaping cities worldwide.
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Foster + Partners has opened its first comprehensive exhibition in Australia, Civic Vision, showcasing more than five decades of the practice’s global architectural work.
Staged inside Parkline Place, the studio’s latest Sydney project developed by Investa on behalf of Oxford Properties Group and Mitsubishi Estate Asia, the exhibition highlights the firm’s contribution to civic architecture, urban environments and infrastructure.
Gerard Evenden, Head of Studio at Foster + Partners, said: “We are delighted to be putting on this first-of-its-kind exhibition in Sydney – a city we have been working in for more than 25 years. This is a fantastic opportunity to reflect on our holistic approach to civic architecture, which has underpinned our work since the 1960s, and continues to evolve to meet the challenges of today.”
Partner Muir Livingstone added: “It is a great privilege to showcase the practice’s work in Parkline Place – a project that we have been working on for the past six years – and the new home for our Sydney studio.
“Our projects in the city exemplify the civic and sustainable approach that the exhibition centres on. From our first Sydney project, Deutsche Bank Place, which features a four-storey public plaza at its base, to our work for Sydney Metro, which is transforming the way thousands of people travel across the city.”
The exhibition is organised around three themes – Community + Culture, Living + Working, and Planning + Mobility – and features Australian projects including Deutsche Bank Place, Salesforce Tower and Parkline Place, alongside international works such as the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank Headquarters, the Reichstag German Parliament, and the soon-to-open Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi.
Since the 1960s, Foster + Partners has expanded its approach beyond technological innovation to encompass social and environmental design, producing masterplans for carbon-neutral cities and civic infrastructure that prioritise light, clarity and connection.
Civic Vision runs until 21 December on Level 2 of Parkline Place, 252 Pitt Street, Sydney. Entry is free and forms part of the Sydney Open festival program.
Records keep falling in 2025 as harbourfront, beachfront and blue-chip estates crowd the top of the market.
A divide has opened in the tech job market between those with artificial-intelligence skills and everyone else.
