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BMW has shown the new electric BMW 3 Series for the first time, and confirmed it will arrive next year badged i3.

Revealed in camouflaged-form at the launch of the new iX3 SUV on Friday, the car has evolved from the striking Vision Neue Klasse concept that was revealed in 2023. The saloon will become the second model in its Neue Klasse age. 

It is the first time the brand has offered a 3 Series-sized model with an electric powertrain. When it arrives next year it will be the smallest EV the brand offers.

It will also be the first car to use the i3 badge since the previous BMW i3 went out of production in 2022.

Speaking at the iX3 launch, BMW chairman Oliver Zipse said: “This is the new i3 that will arrive next year and he all electric. It’s the first model variant of the new 3 Series generation.

“You will recognise classic proportions of a typical sporty BMW. 

“For the past 50 years across multiple model generations no other model has been as tied to the BMW brand as the 3 Series. It represents sheer driving pleasure at its finest.

"The iX3 and i3 are powerful symbol of the broad spectrum the Neue Klasse models will cover.”

When the iX3 and i3 arrive next year, they will spearhead a huge product offensive from BMW. Zipse said that, starting next year, the brand will launch a new version of each model, adding: “We will launch 40 new and  updated models by 2027”

Shown for the first time under camouflage, the i3 appeared in production form. The car has been spotted testing over the past year (below).

While arriving first in electric i3 form, the eighth generation 3 Series will continue to be offered with ICE power as it moves onto BMW's completely new, EV-first architecture. This 800V Gen6 platform is the same as what underpins the larger iX3.

While the iX3 launches as the longest-ranged EV on the market with a range of 500 miles, expect the i3’s lower and sleeker shape to push this further.

Power will likely match the iX3, which at launch is offered with 464bhp and 479lb ft from a dual-motor set up. This enables the SUV to cover 0-62mph in a claimed 4.9sec. Other power configurations are planned.

BMW has already teased an electric M3 with the M HP BE test mule. Due in 2028, BMW has promised that the crucial sports saloon will “set new standards" for electric performance.

The car is also set to get a Touring estate version, BMW Group design boss Adrian van Hooydonk previously told Autocar.

The new electric Mercedes-Benz GLC, which is set to be unveiled imminently at the Munich motor show, will feature the largest digital display screen yet seen on one of the firm’s models.

The new SUV, which effectively succeeds the EQC and will be sold alongside the combustion-engined GLC, sits on a bespoke new EV platform. Mercedes has already shown the bold illuminated grille that will feature on the model and the firm has now given a first glimpse at its cabin.

The interior design is dominated by a revamped single-piece MBUX Hyperscreen, which measures 39.1in and spans the entire length of the new GLC’s dashboard. Mercedes says the screen offers “exceptional clarity” and uses matrix backlight technology from more than 1000 LEDs.

The screen will offer ‘intelligent zone dimming’, which means two display areas can be set to different levels of brightness using sliders. Mercedes claims it has filed a patent for that technology. It is understood that the Hyperscreen will be optional, with lower-level models featuring smaller screens.

Elsewhere, the interior showcases the latest evolution of Mercedes’ ‘sensual purity’ design language, which will be adopted by all future models. The centre console merges into the dashboard and can feature a wireless smartphone charging tray and cupholders. 

There is extensive use of customisable LED lighting, which also adds to the functionality: the air vent illuminations will briefly change colour when the climate temperature is adjusted.

The electric GLC, which Autocar has already driven in prototype form, will be launched at the Munich motor show and will go on sale early in 2026.

Audi will launch its first cars with a Rivian-developed software stack in 2028, marking a step change in the way it develops its cars and the features they include. 

The Volkswagen ID 1, launching in 2027, will be the first VW Group production car to use Rivian elements, but Audi will be the first brand from the group to bring a car to market with a complete software architecture developed in partnership with the Californian outfit, with which VWG established a software joint venture last year.

That's because "Audi has the highest requirements when it comes to functionality", said CEO Gernot Döllner - plus, the heightened efficiencies and reduced complexity brought by the new technology will tie into the German brand’s push for clearer and simpler operations.

"It's 2028 where we'll see it in the market. We are heavily working on it with the Rivian-Volkswagen joint venture, building up mules right now and working intensively together, so the first cars are already on their way,” Döllner told Autocar.

He revealed that the technology will be introduced in a pair of all-new cars – “if you take a step like that, you do it in a new platform” – which occupy different market segments. 

Inside Rivian: the start-up teaching VW how to make better EVs

“From there, we’ll roll it out from these two models, step-by-step, to the complete line-up.”

Döllner gave no clues to what these first two models will be, but the company is likely to launch its first car on the VW Group's new 'SSP' modular architecture around 2028, so that would seem a likely candidate for the new software stack.

He added the stack will have significant implications for the production and capabilities of next-generation Audi models. 

“It means for us, first of all, reducing complexity. In developing the car, we will have much leaner and faster processes in the way we develop the car.

"Over-the-air updates are an integral part of that strategy, so we are more flexible to add functionality or to fix things that are maybe imperfect, and it also helps us to focus our organisation: that software-defined architecture also brings complexity reduction."

Audi's development of a new software-defined family of vehicles comes as it renews its focus on traditional physical controls in pursuit of greater usability - as demonstrated by the new Concept C show car.

The two approaches would seem at odds with each other, but Döllner said digital and analogue elements "fit together perfectly".

"You have less virtual buttons in the car and more haptic elements, because that's definitely the customer requirement we get from the market: customers want to have specific functions and direct access. And  it gives us the ability to to bring back materiality to the interior of the car - that real metal feeling, the 'Audi click', so also emotion.

"But underneath it's a central computer unit with zonal computers behind, so that's no contradiction - it fits together."