BMW turns 100, predicts the next 100 years with the 'Vision Next 100' Concept

The BMW Group has turned 100 this year and, as part of the centenary celebrations, each brand in the group has decided to set out pulses racing with a concept of its own. BMW did it earlier this month while Rolls-Royce, Mini and BMW Motorcycles will follow over the year.

Ever since its unveiling earlier this month, this snazzy BMW has been setting the World Wide Web on fire. Why not? Aptly named 'Vision Next 100', the car is BMW's vision of a vehicle of the future - 100 years from now to be precise.

To start with, BMW's idea of the car of the future looks not quite unlike any car on the road now and thankfully so. Call us conservative, but we aren't fans of wacky concepts that look like spaceships roaming around aimlessly on earth. That way, we are pleased with BMW's Vision Next 100 Concept as it retains the same basic form that we have come to know and identify as cars. BMW's trademark kidney grille sits proudly at the front and so does the propeller logo at prominent spots all around. If you've been wondering about those shrouded wheel wells, know that the fenders are movable and would stretch to let the wheels turn. And what do we say about those suicide-style scissor doors? A show-stopper for sure, this BMW is!

Interiors are expectedly high-tech offering more comfort, more assistance and more intense experience for the driver as well as the occupants. Yes, we did say 'driver'! At a time when driverless cars are gaining traction threatening to challenge the very existence of human drivers, we are glad BMW thinks otherwise. Terms like Digital Companion, Alive Geometry and 4D Printing feature in BMW's press release. The purpose those terms and technologies exist is to assist the driver in a subtle and intuitive way depending on the situation. For instance, an advanced version of Heads-Up Display transforms every damn thing in the vicinity of the car into digital objects on the windshield.

Then comes the two driving modes - Boost and Ease. In the former, the driver is an integral part of the vehicle which for its part does its best to deliver an ultimate driving experience. Offering complete control in Boost mode is a joystick-like steering yoke that smartly collapses out of the way when the car is switched to Ease mode. True to its name, Ease transforms the car's cabin into a moving comfort zone with the Companion taking over the driving responsibilities. You know what, Alive Geometry can even warn the occupants before braking or turning. That's pretty cool and exciting, isn't it? Is there a time machine anywhere that would take us to 2116 right away?

BMW has not revealed what's under the hood or underneath the body of the car. That's okay for we do not know if fossil fuel would still exist 100 years from now to power automobiles. 

Well, thanks BMW, for giving a sneak peek of what's in store from Munich!