Spied! All-New BMW 2 Series Coupe Hits The Road

The current and first-generation subcompactBMW 2 Seriescoupe and convertible date back to 2014, if you can believe it. At this rate, a redesign is just around the corner and today our spy photographers have snapped our first look at an advanced prototype testing in Mexico. Why Mexico? Because production will get underway in the very near future at the German automaker's San Luis Potosi plant.

Although the vehicle you're looking at it remains covered in camouflage, its bodywork is about production-ready, which makes sense because the next-gen 2 Series, internally referred to as G42, is scheduled to officially debut in 2021. But one thing must be made clear: the G42 2 Series has nothing to do with the also newBMW 2 Series Gran Coupe.

The latter is built on BMW's UKL front-wheel-drive architecture, though it comes with all-wheel-drive. Its cousin is the overseas-only BMW 1 Series hatchback.

Fortunately, the next 2 Series coupe will retain its RWD setup; how could thenext M2go without that? Yes, that means an all-new M2 is also planned, though we don't expect it to arrive until 2022. Like the current 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8 Series, the G42 2 Series rides on the flexible CLAR platform. Our sources tell us several engine options will be made available, among them a six-cylinder, as per BMW tradition. It's still too early to know whether or not a manual gearbox will be offered on the non-M2 models.