BMW introduced a small group of journalists to Santa Monica to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Designworks’ presence in the US, and the spotlight of the day was a roundtable with Adrian van Hooydonk, Senior Vice President of BMW Group Design, and Julia de Bono, CEO of Designworks. The dialog touched a variety of subjects, from the upcoming Neue Klasse merchandise to the stress to adapt to digital life contained in the automobile, and the way new instruments—particularly AI—are reshaping their workflows. There was additionally a brief Q&A which allowed media to ask different questions as properly.
The Digital World Inside The Cabin
One of many first topics raised was the rising digitization of BMW interiors. With the upcoming iX3 and the broader Neue Klasse household shifting towards a cleaner, extra software-driven format, there was hypothesis that BMW would possibly finally eradicate bodily buttons altogether. Van Hooydonk shut that down early.
“The automobile will not be utterly switchless,” he mentioned, explaining that BMW intentionally prevented a completely screen-only cockpit. “We didn’t go utterly radical. There are nonetheless switches within the heart console.” He described how BMW analyzed the controls prospects attain for most frequently and designed the inside round these recurring habits. A few of these controls stay bodily by necessity, whereas others seem as mounted digital components that by no means transfer throughout the interface. De Bono added that that is in line with all of the industries Designworks serves, from aviation to farming gear. “For any human-centric design, one thing haptic—one thing that engages all senses—will at all times stay,” she mentioned, emphasizing that tactility will not be a nostalgic thought however an ergonomic one.
A Smartphone-Like Expertise?
The stress between digital familiarity and protected driving is one thing BMW has been wrestling with for years, particularly as shopper habits turns into more and more formed by smartphones. Van Hooydonk mentioned that the design group has spent a very long time inspecting whether or not a automobile’s interface ought to behave extra like a telephone or preserve its personal logic.
“Automobile corporations come from a mechanical world,” he defined. “Tech corporations come from contact and voice. 5 years in the past the query was: which logic ought to win?” The reply finally took form within the Panoramic Imaginative and prescient Show of the Neue Klasse. Slightly than turning the dashboard into a large pill, BMW break up the digital surroundings into two zones—important driving info instantly in entrance of the driving force, and customizable widgets positioned farther to the precise. “Within the iX3, prospects can configure apps like on a cell machine,” he mentioned, “however the driving surroundings nonetheless works for you.” The objective was to acknowledge how folks work together with expertise at present with out surrendering the readability wanted in a shifting automobile.
The Way forward for Apple Automobile Play and Android Auto
That naturally led to a query about Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, particularly as some automakers have lately moved away from supporting them. Van Hooydonk was direct: BMW isn’t abandoning CarPlay. “We provide CarPlay,” he mentioned. “We wish prospects to make use of it if they need. Half our prospects have an iPhone.”
Nevertheless, he additionally made it clear that BMW desires its personal system to stay the higher selection for understanding the automobile’s capabilities, notably with regards to electrical automobiles. “Our UI will at all times be extra related to the automobile,” he defined. “An electrical BMW is aware of your cost state and your subsequent charging level, and it guides you seamlessly.” The message wasn’t about competitors with Apple a lot as the fact that the automobile should perceive issues a telephone can’t.
AI’s Position in Automobile Design
The subject that generated essentially the most dialogue, and essentially the most trustworthy introspection, was synthetic intelligence. BMW has already been experimenting with AI inside its design studios for greater than two years, although not within the consumer-facing method most individuals may think. Van Hooydonk made it clear that BMW isn’t counting on public generative instruments to form its merchandise.
“We don’t need ChatGPT to design our subsequent BMW,” he mentioned. “It might seize photos from the web and blend them collectively. We’re coaching our personal AI.” De Bono defined how Designworks educated its inside fashions on the sketch types of BMW designers, a course of that took near a yr earlier than the system might convincingly replicate the best way particular person designers categorical themselves.
“It took 9 to 12 months for the AI to actually categorical how our designers categorical themselves,” she mentioned. “Now I can have a look at sketches and say, ‘That’s Hane. That’s Artwork.’”
This shift is altering how designers collaborate. Individuals who could not historically sketch full automobiles, corresponding to colour and supplies specialists, can now generate full idea proposals. Designers can leap into animated 3D scenes a lot earlier within the course of, permitting them to evaluate proportions, motion, and presence in a extra immersive method. Van Hooydonk famous that this type of software, as soon as correctly built-in, might take a fraction of the time that older digital modeling workflows required. “It took us 15 years to combine early modeling instruments,” he mentioned. “AI will take three or 4.”
Shorter Growth Cycles for Automobiles?
When requested whether or not AI will in the end shorten automobile improvement cycles, van Hooydonk supplied a grounded reply. Whereas design itself can transfer quicker, the majority of a automobile’s timeline—and price—comes from engineering and industrialization. “We will design a automobile shortly already,” he mentioned. “The costly half is after design.” What he does count on is that AI will velocity up most of the engineering duties that usually sluggish initiatives down, corresponding to checking stamping feasibility or figuring out how tough it is going to be to fabricate a selected form.
“AI might analyze a form and let you know how tough it’s to fabricate,” he mentioned. “That’s the place we’ll see positive factors.”
BMW Not Considering Retro Design
The dialog additionally touched on whether or not BMW would possibly revisit concepts from previous idea automobiles. Van Hooydonk didn’t present a lot curiosity in retracing outdated design work. “I wish to look ahead,” he mentioned. “Why return?” Nonetheless, he acknowledged that the Neue Klasse deliberately incorporates refined references to BMW’s heritage, not as retro styling, however as a option to preserve continuity throughout a serious shift in expertise and consumer expertise. “We’re introducing huge modifications with the core of our model,” he mentioned. “We wish present prospects to return alongside.”
Designing for Particular person Markets, or International Audiences?
As a result of the occasion befell in Los Angeles, the dialogue finally turned to U.S. market tendencies and the way they differ from Europe or Asia. De Bono described LA’s automobile tradition as unusually expressive, pointing to the big variety of wrapped automobiles, daring colours, and closely personalised automobiles on native roads. She famous that measurement additionally stays a robust choice within the U.S., which aligns with what BMW sees in buyer habits.
“LA automobile tradition is vivid and genuine,” she mentioned. “You see excessive designs, daring colours, wraps in every single place. Huge measurement is valued right here.” She additionally highlighted the relevance of semi-automated driving within the area’s heavy visitors, saying, “Stage 2+ makes LA visitors enjoyable. The extra we are able to hand over in visitors conditions, the higher.”
Van Hooydonk added that BMW’s groups are exploring product classes the model hasn’t historically performed in, with some concepts already in improvement. “We discovered issues value creating,” he mentioned. “That’s all I can say for now.”
The roundtable didn’t finish with a giant announcement, however with a clearer sense of how BMW’s designers are approaching the subsequent few years. The instruments are evolving, the workflows are altering, and the merchandise will replicate that, however the general perspective remained measured. It was an trustworthy have a look at a group adjusting to new realities with out discarding the basics which have guided them thus far.
