Auto Express 1742

LET’S face it, the way we buy cars has hardly changed for generations. Okay, we’re doing more and more research online and some people are even clicking the button and buying digitally. But in most cases it’s the good old-fashioned dealer who does most of the selling and dealing with customers. That’s about to change, though. In the battle to reduce costs, improve satisfaction and be the owner of customers’ data, many manufacturers are changing their relationships with dealers. In short, you’ll do the deal digitally with the car maker, while existing dealers become more like demonstration and delivery centres. Dealers will also take care of after-sales, but even the value of your part-ex and your finance package are likely to be determined by the manufacturer. It’s called an agency model, where…

• Next-generation executive saloon arrives next year • Radical new ‘Curved Display’ dash uses two widescreens James_Brodie@autovia.co.uk @JPBrods BMW is preparing for what it’s billing as its most transformative project since the sixties, which will see almost everything about the company’s cars change after 2025, from the way it builds them to the way it sells them. But before then, one of the brand’s biggest stars is due a revamp. A new 5 Series will arrive to continue the decades-long battle with the Mercedes E-Class – also due to be replaced next year – and the Audi A6, which will be facelifted in 2023. This newcomer, codenamed G60, will be one of the brand’s final new models before its Neue Klasse-generation vehicles begin to arrive in the middle of the decade, likely led by all-electric…

LET’S face it, the way we buy cars has hardly changed for generations. Okay, we’re doing more and more research online and some people are even clicking the button and buying digitally. But in most cases it’s the good old-fashioned dealer who does most of the selling and dealing with customers. That’s about to change, though. In the battle to reduce costs, improve satisfaction and be the owner of customers’ data, many manufacturers are changing their relationships with dealers. In short, you’ll do the deal digitally with the car maker, while existing dealers become more like demonstration and delivery centres. Dealers will also take care of after-sales, but even the value of your part-ex and your finance package are likely to be determined by the manufacturer. It’s called an agency…

THE next big step in BMW’s electrification plan will be a fully electric offering in the 5 Series segment. There will be little differentiation, as is the case with the 3 Series and the i4, with the latter effectively giving the 3 Series’ customer base with an EV option in the shape of a coupé. The i5 will be an electric 5 Series through and through, with a similar design to its ICE-powered siblings and with the same footprint. BMW CEO Oliver Zipse has confirmed we will see the i5 next year. As such, it’s likely that BMW will introduce the i5 alongside the new 5 Series. Several variants are understood to be in the pipeline, with an all-electric M Performance version likely to be part of the line-up, badged i5 M50. Sharing…

PERHAPS the most startling change destined for the internal combustion engine-powered 5 Series will actually feature on the next-generation M5. That’s because the performance icon is tipped to return as a plug-in hybrid, with an electrified drivetrain that could make it the most powerful BMW M car yet – a title currently held by the M5 CS, but soon to be conceded to the XM SUV. And it’s power from the XM that will enable the M5 to deliver more than 700bhp, should BMW’s M division decide to turn the wick up beyond the new bespoke M SUV. The XM features a new 4.4-litre turbocharged V8, codenamed S68, which is paired with a 25kWh battery and an electric motor that delivers a hot hatchback-rivalling 194bhp on its own, plus 450Nm of torque. Combined power…

• Next-generation executive saloon arrives next year • Radical new ‘Curved Display’ dash uses two widescreens James_Brodie@autovia.co.uk @JPBrods BMW is preparing for what it’s billing as its most transformative project since the sixties, which will see almost everything about the company’s cars change after 2025, from the way it builds them to the way it sells them. But before then, one of the brand’s biggest stars is due a revamp. A new 5 Series will arrive to continue the decades-long battle with the Mercedes E-Class – also due to be replaced next year – and the Audi A6, which will be facelifted in 2023. This newcomer, codenamed G60, will be one of the brand’s final new models before its Neue Klasse-generation vehicles begin to arrive in the middle of the…