Adrian Van Hooydonk on BMW’s new green sub-brand

BMW’s Chief Designer Adrian Van Hooydonk was interviewed by the Wallpaper magazine about the future Megacity Vehicle and the next premium BMW sub-brand that focuses on environment friendly vehicles. It was just last month that Van Hooydonk had shown the designer sketches in Munich, and now he is ready to spill more about the future Megacity family which they plan to be the world leader in premium electric vehicles.

Maximum sustainability – everything from the suppliers, production process, to component recycling are all focused on environmental friendliness, economy, and social compatibility.

The Megacity Vehicle is set to be launched in 2013. It will be a rear-wheel electric car that is capable if carrying four passengers. BMW has been investing in the carbon fiber technology for quite some time now, but the Megacity Vehicle will be the very first volume produced car to use the lightweight carbon fiber technology in its structure and body panels.

According to Van Hooydonk, “the car will be attractive but not controversial, and it will need to express cleanliness combined with premium and efficient dynamics. The sub-brand offers a chance to innovate as well as feature BMW’s customary design quality and detailing. Of course the car should also show its new skills in the design, including being lightweight and safe, as well as offering the driving fun that you can have with an electric powered car. We want to give our customers a small island of wellbeing – an island of silence – for their mobility. Therefore you will find also a totally new type of interior that gives exactly this feeling to the driver and passengers. The complete new package, due to the electric powertrain, and the use of new materials like carbon fibre, gives us designers more freedom for creativity – the freedom to give the customers of the future totally new features and impressions. And of course, the know-how of this project, the new ideas that we have, will also have an impact on the core brand, BMW.”

The next BMW sub-brand design team will be headed by M1 and CS coupe concept designer Benoît Jacob.  Van Hooydonk confirms that BMW plans to extend the DNA of this sub-brand into a couple of vehicles, starting with the Megacity Vehicle.

Source: Wallpaper