BMW's top management was on spot at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show to reveal to the world what the Bavarians think the future will be like. The i8 made its world debut here whilst the i3 joined in the efforts to change the way we drive.
BMW Group's Head of Design, Adrian Van Hooydonk and BMW i8 Project Manager, Henrik Wenders took the time to talk about the new products they just put up for display and share their thoughts.
As far as the design goes, Adrian made a good point of stating the obvious: these cars were built from the ground up, following a vision of efficiency and sustainable mobility. The i8 was even dubbed VISION Concept at first, emphasizing the idea behind the whole project.
Just as Henrik later states, it is a very rare occasion to have a clean sheet of paper in front of you and to be given the opportunity to create something completely new from scratch.
Usually, and this is not true just in BMW's case, designers have something to work with. They are either inspired by previous models, when creating a new one in the same family, or they look to the competition, to create something better.
In this case, since both cars are revolutionary and firsts in their own segments, they had to be done from scratch. Another first for the i Cars.
As far as the design goes, Adrian made a good point of stating the obvious: these cars were built from the ground up, following a vision of efficiency and sustainable mobility. The i8 was even dubbed VISION Concept at first, emphasizing the idea behind the whole project.
Just as Henrik later states, it is a very rare occasion to have a clean sheet of paper in front of you and to be given the opportunity to create something completely new from scratch.
Usually, and this is not true just in BMW's case, designers have something to work with. They are either inspired by previous models, when creating a new one in the same family, or they look to the competition, to create something better.
In this case, since both cars are revolutionary and firsts in their own segments, they had to be done from scratch. Another first for the i Cars.