‘Don’t mess it up’: Critical electric SUV has to have broad appeal, but will the 2026 BMW iX3 design outclass the Audi SQ6, Mercedes-Benz GLC electric and more?

BMW’s head of design says there was a degree of pressure overseeing the look of the new iX3, one of the most important cars in BMW’s long history.

The iX3 ushers in the high-tech Neue Klasse (New Class) architecture as well as a completely new take on BMW’s exterior and interior design.

Senior Vice President BMW Group Design, Adrian van Hooydonk, likened designing such a critical model to that of a race car driver, who takes the wheel after hundreds of engineers have prepared the vehicle, but added that focus is the key.

“Everybody will remind me every now and then, even the board tells me every now and then, remember, everything depends on you, don't mess it up, please,” he told Australian journalists at the iX3 premiere in Munich.

“So it's all true, but if a racing driver would be thinking about that, he would even miss the first corner. So you have to be very good, compartmentalise your brain, set that aside while you're doing your job. Then, of course, a design project lasts longer than a race, but it gets your adrenaline pumping as well.

“And every now and then you have to take a step aside, look at what you're doing, evaluate, think, but all the decisions that you're making cannot be rolled back. At the time when we're making a design decision for this car, it was three years ago. Who would have known what the world looks like today? And this design will still be on the road in 2030 and nobody knows what the world will look like then. So we felt that with the world changing so rapidly, we had to have courage to make a bigger change. And I think we did.”

The new-generation iX3 was previewed by last year’s BMW Vision Neue Klasse X concept and that was preceded by the striking BMW Vision Neue Klasse sedan concept from 2023 that gave the world its first look at the next electric 3 Series, now confirmed to be called i3 - no relation to the tiny electric hatch from the early 2010s.

van Hooydonk rejected the suggestion the iX3’s restrained design was a response to the polarising design of the bold XM SUV, saying the iX3 is a volume model and needs to hold broader appeal.

“I think you have to take the XM out of the equation. It is a very expressive car, and it is designed to be a very expressive car. It appeals to people that do want to show what they're driving,” he said.

“Here, we're talking about an X3 which is a family car, which we want to sell all over the world. We have three factories that are producing X3s all over the world. So this is a design that we want, of course, to appeal to a larger audience.

“At the same time, I feel that we've taken a bold step forward. It is not a retro design. It is not a careful evolution of the previous X3. It is a big step. But like you say, it's restrained. It is very clean. And with that, we believe we have created a design that will not only appeal to a wide audience, but it will hold its modernity for a long time.”

He highlighted the original i3 as an example of BMW design that still holds up today.

“If you look at an i3 today, let's say the previous i3, the small city car, it still looks modern today, and it's actually a very clean design, but strong character, and that is something that we want to do here as well.”

van Hooydonk agreed that the Western automotive industry was at a critical point with the rise of Chinese manufacturers, and he highlighted an existential moment in the company’s history in the 1960s that led to the original Neue Klass.

“BMW was nearly bankrupt. BMW was selling an Isetta and a V8 … machine, and nothing in between. And things didn't look so good for BMW. Then BMW was nearly bought by Mercedes. I don't think we would have enjoyed that very much. So at that time, I think there was a lot of pressure on the design department, and they came up with Neue Klasse that then led BMW onto this track of success.”