BMW introduced a small group of journalists to Santa Monica to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Designworks’ presence in the USA, 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 matters, from the upcoming Neue Klasse merchandise to the stress to adapt to digital life contained in the automotive, 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 nicely.
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 may finally remove bodily buttons altogether. Van Hooydonk shut that down early.
“The automotive isn’t utterly switchless,” he mentioned, explaining that BMW intentionally prevented a totally 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 parts that by no means transfer inside the interface. De Bono added that that is in keeping with all of the industries Designworks serves, from aviation to farming tools. “For any human-centric design, one thing haptic—one thing that engages all senses—will all the time stay,” she mentioned, emphasizing that tactility isn’t a nostalgic concept 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 crew has spent a very long time inspecting whether or not a automotive’s interface ought to behave extra like a cellphone or preserve its personal logic.
“Automobile firms come from a mechanical world,” he defined. “Tech firms 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 an enormous pill, BMW break up the digital setting into two zones—crucial driving info instantly in entrance of the motive force, and customizable widgets positioned farther to the fitting. “Within the iX3, prospects can configure apps like on a cellular gadget,” he mentioned, “however the driving setting nonetheless works for you.” The aim was to acknowledge how individuals work together with know-how right this moment with out surrendering the readability wanted in a shifting car.
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 just 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 needs its personal system to stay the higher selection for understanding the automotive’s capabilities, significantly relating to electrical automobiles. “Our UI will all the time be extra related to the automotive,” 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 automotive should perceive issues a cellphone can not.
AI’s Position in Automobile Design
The subject that generated probably the most dialogue, and probably 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 manner 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 12 months earlier than the system may convincingly replicate the way in which particular person designers categorical themselves.
“It took 9 to 12 months for the AI to essentially 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 might not historically sketch full automobiles, resembling shade and supplies specialists, can now generate full idea proposals. Designers can bounce into animated 3D scenes a lot earlier within the course of, permitting them to evaluate proportions, motion, and presence in a extra immersive manner. Van Hooydonk famous that this sort of software, as soon as correctly built-in, may 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 Vehicles?
When requested whether or not AI will in the end shorten car growth cycles, van Hooydonk supplied a grounded reply. Whereas design itself can transfer sooner, the majority of a car’s timeline—and price—comes from engineering and industrialization. “We will design a automotive shortly already,” he mentioned. “The costly half is after design.” What he does anticipate is that AI will pace up lots of the engineering duties that always gradual initiatives down, resembling checking stamping feasibility or figuring out how tough it will likely be to fabricate a selected form.
“AI may analyze a form and let you know how tough it’s to fabricate,” he mentioned. “That’s the place we’ll see features.”
BMW Not Desirous about Retro Design
The dialog additionally touched on whether or not BMW may revisit concepts from previous idea vehicles. Van Hooydonk didn’t present a lot curiosity in retracing outdated design work. “I prefer to look ahead,” he mentioned. “Why return?” Nonetheless, he acknowledged that the Neue Klasse deliberately accommodates delicate references to BMW’s heritage, not as retro styling, however as a method to preserve continuity throughout a serious shift in know-how and consumer expertise. “We’re introducing large modifications with the core of our model,” he mentioned. “We wish present prospects to return alongside.”
Designing for Particular person Markets, or World 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 automotive tradition as unusually expressive, pointing to the big variety of wrapped vehicles, daring colours, and closely personalised automobiles on native roads. She famous that dimension additionally stays a powerful desire within the U.S., which aligns with what BMW sees in buyer habits.
“LA automotive tradition is vivid and genuine,” she mentioned. “You see excessive designs, daring colours, wraps all over the place. Large dimension is valued right here.” She additionally highlighted the relevance of semi-automated driving within the area’s heavy site visitors, saying, “Degree 2+ makes LA site visitors stress-free. The extra we will hand over in site 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 growth. “We discovered issues value growing,” 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 following few years. The instruments are evolving, the workflows are altering, and the merchandise will replicate that, however the total angle remained measured. It was an trustworthy have a look at a crew adjusting to new realities with out discarding the basics which have guided them up to now.
