The sleigh has done its job for centuries. It’s iconic, it’s timeless, and it’s probably the only vehicle on Earth that can claim “chimney access” as a core feature. But every December, there’s a moment—usually right around the time the elves start stress-baking gingerbread like it’s a coping mechanism—when reality taps Santa on the shoulder and says, gently but firmly, “You might want a backup plan.”
This year, that moment happens in a workshop at the edge of the North Pole (Arjeplog comes to mind) , where the sleigh is up on a lift and a mechanic elf is making the sort of face you only make when you’ve just discovered a problem that comes with the words “structural” and “seasonal” in the same sentence.
Santa tries to keep it light. He always does. He cracks a joke about the sleigh “still feeling tight,” even though it’s squeaking like an old door in a haunted house. The elf doesn’t laugh. Instead, he points to a clipboard and starts reading off the polite version of the truth: the runners are worn, the steering is vague, the brakes are basically wishful thinking, and the reindeer have reached the point where they’re asking whether “overtime” is an actual concept or just another Christmas myth.
Santa sighs. “So what do you recommend?” The elf smiles, because he’s been waiting all year to say it.
“BMW.”
The Non-Negotiable: xDrive
Not a classic, either. Not a nostalgia pick. Not something that sounds like thunder and announces itself to every sleeping child and every suspicious neighbor with a doorbell camera. If Santa is going to do this properly in 2025, he needs something quiet, modern, fast in the way that feels effortless, and competent in weather that swings from Arctic ice to Florida rain within the same hour.
He needs xDrive. It’s non-negotiable. Santa’s route isn’t one road, it’s every road. It’s the slick driveway that never gets shoveled, the cul-de-sac polished to a shine by freezing rain, and the mountain village where the snowplow is a rumor passed down from generation to generation. Rudolph can still lead, of course, because tradition matters, but even Rudolph deserves a year where his job is navigation, not pulling.
The Pick for 2025: The New BMW iX3
And that’s how Santa ends up in the driver’s seat of the new BMW iX3.
It’s the kind of choice that makes sense the moment you stop thinking like it’s 1997. The iX3 is an SUV, which means it fits the job description before you even get to the tech. It has the stance, the practicality, the “I can do this all day” energy. But it’s also the first big taste of BMW’s Neue Klasse era, which means it comes with that subtle feeling of stepping into the next decade before everyone else has even found the key.
Why Electric, Not Combustion?
Now, the obvious question is the one Santa’s traditionalists would ask first: why the iX3 and not a combustion-powered car? Why not something with a big, hearty engine note that feels like a Christmas choir warming up?
Because Santa doesn’t need noise. He needs float.
Drive the new iX3 and you get that uncanny sensation EVs do so well—effortless, smooth, and quietly quick, like the vehicle is skating over the surface of the world rather than trudging through it. That’s the closest thing a modern car can offer to the way a sleigh feels when it’s doing what it’s supposed to do: gliding with ease, unbothered by the chaos below, making speed feel like magic instead of effort. A combustion car can be thrilling, sure, but it’s also busy. It vibrates, it chatters, it always feels like it’s working. The iX3 feels like it’s simply… moving, as if the laws of friction are optional when you’ve got instant torque and smooth power delivery on your side.
It’s also the kind of speed that doesn’t wake the baby, doesn’t spook the dog, and doesn’t trigger the neighbor who hears a faint noise and immediately checks the security feed. In that sense, an electric SUV isn’t just logical. It’s almost poetic. Santa has always been a stealth operator. The sleigh bells are great for the movies, but if you’re trying to move through the world unnoticed, silence is the real superpower.
The Santa Test: Space for the Bag
The other thing Santa needs is space, and not the vague, marketing kind of space where manufacturers tell you a suitcase fits perfectly if you rotate it three times and remove the wheels. Santa needs actual usable room, the sort of cargo area that doesn’t flinch when you throw in a sack that appears to contain the inventory of an entire toy store. The kind of space that can swallow oddly shaped boxes, last-minute gifts, and whatever strange “just in case” equipment the elves insist on bringing along because someone watched a survival video once and now nobody feels safe without a backup plan.
Sure, an iX5 or iX7 might be better, but Santa still needs to wait a few more years for that.
Pit Stops, Not Fuel Stops
Then there’s charging, which is where Santa’s schedule starts to resemble motorsport more than holiday tradition. Santa doesn’t do long stops. He does pit stops. A moment here, a moment there, just enough time to inhale two cookies, nod respectfully at the milk, and disappear again like a caffeinated ghost. The idea of wasting time at a fuel station has never fit the mythology. Charging that feels quick and purposeful does.
A Cabin That Helps, Not One That Demands
Inside, the iX3 is the kind of place Santa can actually work. Not in the “I’m replying to emails” way, but in the “this night is long and my back is not made of reindeer leather” way. Santa doesn’t need a cockpit that demands a tutorial at 2 a.m. He needs comfort that keeps him fresh, a cabin that stays calm when the world outside looks like a snowstorm simulator, and tech that supports the mission rather than turning the mission into a user interface. And that Panoramic Display and navigation could help him be even more efficient with his deliveries.
In the end, the funniest part is that none of this feels like Santa betraying tradition. It feels like Santa doing what he’s always done: adapting, quietly, to keep the operation running. The sleigh isn’t dead. It’s seasonal. It’ll be back, polished and proud, the moment the elves finish whatever repair process they insist is “definitely within spec.” But for 2025, when the world is noisier, cameras are everywhere, and the weather is more unpredictable than ever, Santa’s backup plan needs to be something that feels modern without losing the magic.
So yes, this year Santa trades the sleigh for a BMW.
He drives the iX3.
Rudolph still leads, of course.
He just doesn’t have to pull.
