BMW 8 Series to get electric gran coupe, coupe and cabrio to be axed

German luxury car brand BMW is planning to axe two of its cars in favour of one. The BMWBlog claims in a report that the Bavarian auto giant will introduce the 8-Series Gran Coupe. It also claims that the automaker plans to axe two models, the coupe and cabriolet variants of the 8-Series. The soft-top convertible is claimed to bow out in 2025 when the BMW 3-Series is expected to enter its third generation. What's more interesting is that the most practical body style among the trio will receive an all-electric powertrain, ditching both petrol and diesel engines, claims the report.

There is no surprise that the upcoming BMW 8-Series Gran Coupe EV would be a bold move from the German auto company because there are a lot of people who aren't ready to make the switch to electric vehicles yet. However, the automaker seems to be ready to take that challenge.

Internally codenamed G77, the BMW 8-Series Gran Coupe's production is expected to kick off sometime in 2026. It would stick to the rear-wheel-drive-based CLAR architecture that underpins the current generation internal combustion engine-powered model. The report also claimed that despite carrying the 8 number in its nomenclature, the swoopy sedan would come to bridge the gap between the next year's i5 and the already introduced i7.

Interestingly, the report claims that the BMW 8-Series Gran Coupe will be based on the CLAR platform, while the automaker is already working on a dedicated electric vehicle-only architecture dubbed Neue Klasse. However, the automaker thinks it might be too early to build the 8-Series on the all-new Neue Klasse architecture. As a memory refresher, the first models on the all-new EV-only architecture are slated to launch in 2025. There will be a sedan and an SUV in the 3-Series segment that will be the first models to be underpinned by the upcoming Neue Klasse architecture.