At BMW's shareholder meeting yesterday, CEO Harald Krueger revealed that the company is preparing to launch its first autonomous vehicle in five years:
In 2018, a BMW i8 Roadster will be launched. In 2021, the BMW i NEXT, our new innovation, will follow, with autonomous driving, digital connectivity, intelligent lightweight design, a completely new interior and, ultimately, will bring the next generation of electro-mobility to the road.
With these few details, it's hard to say what the i NEXT will look like, but the German automaker has already shown us how it dreams up the next generation of its cars. 
As you can see in the image, the upcoming vehicle combines sporty styling with innovative ideas, such as the use of recycled carbon in the chassis, reflective side windows that will reduce heat from the sun inside the car, and closed wheels for improved aerodynamics.
It should be noted that the company partnered in August 2015 with Audi and Mercedes to acquire Nokia's HERE maps for $3 billion, which they would use to develop mapping technology for autonomous driving.
Last December, Nokia said it was expanding its HERE service by adding high-resolution maps for self-driving cars and collecting anonymized data from those automakers' vehicles that would update the maps in real time.
