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Coupe will serve as a more dynamic, style-focused foil to the 3 Series and i3 saloons
BMW is working on a new 4 Series to serve as a more style-focused and dynamic alternative to the bold Neue Klasse 3 Series - and it's set once again to spawn a potent M4 coupé.
The 4 Series was launched in 2013 as a more rakish take on the stalwart 3 Series, with the option of two-door coupé and convertible bodystyles as well as a four-door fastback called the Gran Coupé. It entered its second generation in 2020 and went on to provide the basis for the i4, which is essentially today's electric alternative to the 3 Series.
It has consistently been a strong seller for BMW, albeit with an inherently more niche market position than its more mainstream saloon/estate sibling. But the future of the model line had been unclear, given the 3 Series on which it is based is about to enter a new generation, gaining a pure-EV option that weakens the i4's business case.
However, Joachim Post, who oversees the engineering and development of all new BMW models, told Autocar that there is a place for the more rakish derivative in the forthcoming Neue Klasse line-up.
"The 4 Series is an important car for us. It's more sporty, and BMW is a sporty brand which has a clear heritage also on the performance side. It will play an important role also for the future," he said.
Post's comments are the first indication BMW has given of plans for a third-generation 4 Series, and with test mules yet to break cover, it is unclear whether the company would seek to offer the same variety of bodystyles as today. However, bosses in Munich could have spotted a sizeable commercial opportunity created by the gradual exodus of rival firms from the coupé and fastback segments.
Even if different-shaped derivatives are not as popular or profitable as the mainstream model on which they are based, BMW's Joachim Post said it is relatively easy to sign off the business case because of the vastly reduced development costs they incur.
"It's not [as] expensive [as] making a completely new car and whenever we make a 3 Series or X3, we still think about the 4 Series or X4, to make it with synergies so that a derivative can be easily built out of the base," he said.
Indeed, BMW is just months away from unveiling a new-generation X4, spotted in prototype guise recently (pictured) and expected to have ICE and EV powertrains shared with the X3 and iX3 - and Post said the larger X6 is likely to make a comeback in the same vein.
He said: "Coming to the X4, for example - and X6 is the same - they will play important roles in the future. That's why we make cars with huge synergies: from X4 to X3, X6 to X5, X2 to X1...
"They are cars which with low effort can be made, which are high synergy and which are an additional opportunity for customers who like the proportions of cars that are a little bit more sporty, more dynamic."
The 4 Series' long-time Audi A5 rival, for example, is no more - having given its name to what was previously the A4 - and Mercedes has halved its two-door cruiser offering, combining the short-wheelbase C-Class and E-Class derivatives into one new mid-sized model, the CLE.
Either way, the suggestion that the 4 Series will follow its sibling onto the Neue Klasse architecture implies that it will likewise continue to offer a spread of pure-electric and combustion powertrains, with the next-generation 'i4' twinned with the upcoming i3 underneath.
That means a range of updated (and Euro 7-compliant) petrol engines in the 4 Series and an EV with a choice of rear- or dual-motor powertrains and a 108kWh battery that is likely to offer an official range of more than 500 miles.
It also paves the way for the return of the M4, suggested Post.
"These derivatives are very often the base for the sports cars," he said, hinting at a third outing for the performance coupé.
BMW has already strongly suggested the next iteration of the M3 will be available as either a mega-powered, quad-motor EV with advanced torque vectoring or a more traditional petrol option with an updated version of its venerable 'S58' straight-six engine.
Post doubled down on this possibility, emphasising that BMW has a "bigger advantage in comparison to a few others" because it has engineered its next generation of ICE powertrains to be compliant with upcoming European emissions rules.
"We can fulfil Euro 7 with some optimisation in the exhaust system - with things like the catalysts - so that's why we have a big advantage in that Euro 7 is not that high an investment for us," he said, confirming that even the 6.0-litre V12 used by BMW-owned Rolls-Royce could continue.
Post stopped short of confirming exactly which engine could be used in the next M4 and M3 but he did confirm that there will be four-, six-, eight- and 12-cylinder engines in BMW's next line-up.
Link to article: https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/neue-klasse-bmw-4-series-offer-petrol-ev-and-hot-m4
