Seamless merging of man and machine

Adrian van Hooydonk (center), head of BMW Group Design, and other executive designers discuss the design of the Vision Next 100 concept car. PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

The BMW Group's Vision Next 100 concept car unveiled at the Centenary Event in March in Munich presented a glimpse into the future: comprehensive mobility tailored to every customer's preferences.

The Vision Next 100 underpins the BMW Group's four strategies for the future: being driver-focused, merging artificial intelligence and intuitive technology, employing new materials to open up opportunities, and putting emotion into mobility.

"As a designer, if you are able to imagine something, there's a good chance it could one day become reality," said Adrian van Hooydonk, head of BMW Group Design. "Our objective with the BMW Vision Next 100 was to develop a future scenario that people would engage with."

The luxury carmaker's concept car combines coupe-type sportiness with the dynamic elegance of a sedan. It is a highly customized vehicle that is tailored to suit the driver's changing needs.

The automaker said driver-vehicle interactions would be managed by its Alive Geometry system, while the Boost and Ease systems offer a choice of driver-controlled or vehicle-controlled operations. The car would allow changes to the interior depending on the mode of travel, the company said.

Artistic rendering of the two modes of the concept car. PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

The design team took into account trends and technological developments that will be most relevant to BMW in the decades ahead. They also took many of their cues from innovations and designs of the past.

In developing the concept vehicle, the main objective was to create a highly personalized car fully geared to meet the driver's every need that also can build an emotional connection between BMW and its driver.

"Technology should be as intuitive as possible to operate and experience so that future interactions between human, machine and surroundings become seamless," said Van Hooydonk. "The BMW Vision Next 100 shows how we intend to shape this future."

A key factor in the BMW Group's vision of tomorrow's world has always been typical of the BMW brand: The desire to be uncompromising in its future focus on technologies and customer value.

The concept car will go on a global tour that starts this May entitled "Iconic Impulses", with stops in China, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The exhibition is to present the view of future individual mobility - a perspective that sees the BMW Group and its brands continuing to create positive, emotional and personal experiences for its customers.

To mark its centenary year in 2016, the group is looking further ahead than usual with a series of Vision Vehicles designed to anticipate and respond to people's future mobility demands.

After Vision Next 100's Asian premiere in Beijing from May 6 to 15, it will travel to London, where the Vision Vehicles of the British MINI and Rolls-Royce brands will be unveiled. It will then stop in Los Angeles, where BMW Motorrad will add its Vision Vehicle to the collection to complete the quartet of brands.