BMW Group Design Chief intends to clean things up

BMW Group Head of Design Adrian Van Hooydonk has spoken to the press at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show and he highlighted that he is committed to clean up the design of BMW cars in favor of fewer lines.

“We’re going to clean things up; we’re going to use fewer lines; the lines that we’ll have will be sharper and more precise,” van Hooydonk told Automotive News in an interview. “On the interior, we’re going to have fewer buttons — the cars will begin to show their intelligence, so you have to give it less input.”

BMW aims wants to separate themselves from the “same sausage, different lengths” approach that other automakers like Audi had made famous in the last 10 years. Van Hooydonk says the new design language will pull each car further from “its next of kin” in the model lineup. “You’ll find the cars will become stronger in character and separated more from one another.”

Some of the models launching this year are the Detroit debuted X2, followed by the redesigned X4 and X5 crossovers, the new 8 Series coupe, the redesigned 3 Series sedan, the largest BMW SUV to-date – X7 – and the roadster Z4.

“Or maybe you could say the competition changed more than we did,” van Hooydonk said. “In the world that we live in now, that’s not enough,” van Hooydonk said. “There is more competition now. The world has changed. It’s faster pace. So our design needs to change faster as well.”

“Everything that comes out from now going forward will play a big role,” van Hooydonk said. “The 8 series is going to combine all of these elements in a very new shape.”