Select a region
BMW Group has unveiled its Rolls-Royce, Mini and BMW driverless cars of the future.
The Vision Next 100 concept cars were shown as part of an event at The Roundhouse in north London to celebrate the company’s centenary.
Future models of the luxury Rolls-Royce brand will be bespoke and created for each “unique super-luxury patron,” according to its chief of design Giles Taylor.
He likened this to being “much like defining your own yacht, your own suit or your own shoes”.
The cars aren’t good news for chauffeurs, however, as Taylor claimed that the drivers who have become “synonymous” with the brand would be “retired” because of the autonomous driving system.
The absence of front seats and the back of the driver’s head would result in “the perfect view”, he added.
The Mini car will have a “Cooperiser” – named after John Cooper who developed the Mini Cooper – in the centre of its dashboard. This will illuminate like a kaleidoscope and select personal settings for each driver, such as entertainment, communications and autonomous-driving options.
Meanwhile, the BMW car of the future would offer a “boost” mode with support such as displaying the ideal driving line or warnings about oncoming vehicles being given when the driver is fully in control. But in “ease” mode the steering wheel retracts and the angle of the front seats can be altered to make it easier for the driver and passenger to face each other in a “relaxed and welcoming atmosphere”.
BMW Group was not specific about when such developments may be introduced to vehicles on public roads but said the cars were its vision for the next “two or three decades”.
