BMW promises autonomous, electric flagship for 2021 called iNext

We're just about halfway through 2016 and BMW is already talking about product plans for 2021.

At BMW's annual shareholders meeting Thursday, company chairman of the board Harald Krüger spoke to the future of the brand. Specifically, he detailed the next BMW flagship -- autonomous, intelligent, lightweight and the "next generation of electro-mobility." He calls it the iNext.

The iNext is a combination of the BMW electrified i brand and the Vision Next 100 concept that debuted to correspond with the company's 100th birthday.

Presumably, this car will be BMW's answer to the growing number of techie and luxurious electrified vehicles on the road. More explicitly, it'll be Bimmer's challenge to Tesla.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Krüger also divulged a few other exciting product developments. Most notably, BMW will launch the i8 Roadster in 2018, which the German luxury carmaker teased with the i8 Spyder pictured above.

While BMW pushes into electrification, it's also expanding its car-sharing program. It recently launched ReachNow, a car-sharing service in Seattle, which has already garnered 13,000 registrants. Along with chauffeured services, ReachNow allows owners to rent out their own personal cars as well.

Just don't expect the iNext to make it into the ReachNow fleet.

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