BMW Neue Klasse electric SUV enters pre-production status

• BMW’s new electric SUV has entered pro-production status
• Production is on track for late 2025
• Initial production will take place in Hungary and Germany, then Mexico will be added to the mix

BMW is now building pre-productions examples of the first of its next-generation Neue Klasse EVs at its assembly plant in Debrecen, Hungary,

This is the “final preparation phase” before the start of series production, which is still on track for late 2025, BMW said. A standard part of the ramp-up of any volume model, the pre-production process allows automakers to test every aspect of vehicle assembly, as well as the attendant logistics processes, to ensure everything is running smoothly.

The first Neue Klasse model will be an SUV previewed by the Vision Neue Klasse X concept revealed earlier this year. It will be followed by a sedan based on the Vision Neue Klasse concept first shown in late 2023, with both sporting a minimalist look and tech features like a panoramic head-up display, with a name that honors a family of models from the 1960s that set the template for modern BMWs.

Neue Klasse models also mark a battery shift for BMW to cylindrical cells, which the automaker has said will have a volumetric energy density more than 20% higher than the prismatic cells it currently uses. They’ll combine with an 800-volt electrical architecture to speed up charging by 30%, BMW has said. The automaker has also promised bidirectional charging capability, allowing Neue Klasse EVs to serve as home backup power sources.

BMW Group Plant Debrecen, Hungary

The Neue Klasse EVs pick up where the formative BMW i3—the automaker’s first dedicated EV—left off, but with designs aimed more at the mainstream and the potential for much higher production volumes. After production gets underway in Hungary, BMW plans to add Neue Klasse models at its main plant in Munich, Germany. Production in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, will then follow in 2027.

Plans for Mexican assembly, which include a new battery-assembly facility, could help Neue Klasse models qualify for a federal EV tax credit in the U.S. But by the time BMW is ready to start building EVs in Mexico, the tax credit may have already been nixed by the second Trump administration.