For 19 straight years, BMW has parked itself among the superyachts and vintage sailboats at the Voiles de Saint-Tropez. This time, the automaker brought three electric models that collectively sketch the outline of its entire Neue Klasse strategy: the i3 sedan, the iX3 crossover, and the iX5 SUV.
The regatta ran from September 26 to October 4, and BMW treated the French Riviera as an open-air showroom. Yacht owners and VIP guests were shuttled around in an electrified fleet that included everything from the iX3 50 xDrive to both variants of the flagship i7. Not a single combustion-only vehicle in the chauffeur pool.
The iX3, now roughly a year into production, remains the tip of the Neue Klasse spear. It introduced Panoramic iDrive, iDrive X, and BMW’s sixth-generation electric motors and batteries. The company says that tech stack will filter into about 40 models by the end of 2027. With 100,000 orders and 50,000 units already delivered, it has earned its spot as the reference point for everything coming next.
But the iX5 might have drawn the sharper looks. This is the first fully electric X5, and the X5 nameplate has been one of BMW’s most reliable cash machines for over 25 years. The iX5 60 xDrive runs on an 800-volt architecture and claims up to 845 km of WLTP range. That is a number designed to bury range anxiety arguments before they start.
Then there is the i3, a name that once belonged to a quirky carbon-fiber city car that polarized buyers and dealers alike. The new i3 shares nothing with its predecessor except the badge. In i3 50 xDrive form, BMW quotes 912 km of WLTP range. If that figure holds up anywhere close to real-world conditions, it puts the electric 3 Series in territory that would have seemed absurd even three years ago.
Lining up all three models at a single event tells you something about BMW’s confidence in the Neue Klasse platform. The architecture is doing what platforms are supposed to do: scale across segments without looking like the same car stamped in three different sizes. The i3 is a sedan, the iX3 is a compact crossover, and the iX5 is a midsize SUV. Same bones, very different clothes.
BMW also teased what comes next. An ALPINA version of the 7 Series, internally tagged G72, is expected next year. It will push the interior further upmarket with exclusive materials and design details, aimed squarely at the crowd that considers a standard i7 merely adequate.
Saint-Tropez is a calculated backdrop for all of this. Sailing regattas attract old money and new money in roughly equal measure, and both demographics are precisely who BMW wants test-sitting its electric lineup. The cars were not hidden in a convention center. They were parked along the port, driven through narrow streets, and placed where people with purchasing power could touch them.
Whether the Neue Klasse offensive delivers the volume BMW needs is still an open question. The iX3’s early sales are encouraging but not yet definitive. The i3 and iX5 have barely begun reaching customers. Range numbers on paper are one thing. Ownership experiences over tens of thousands of kilometers are another.
BMW keeps showing up in Saint-Tropez because the math works. Nineteen years of sponsorship buys a kind of brand association that no ad campaign can replicate. The difference now is that every car on display plugs in.
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