After having presented, at the last Frankfurt Motor Show, the prototype of a large, top-of-the-range SUV, which it named X7 Concept, BMW is now admitting to producing another model, with a higher position. And that, commercially, should adopt the name of BMW X8.
The revelation, advances the British Autocar, appears in an internal report of the Stuttgart brand itself. Whose responsible, adds the magazine, believe that there will be no lack of market for such a proposal!
BMW X8 rival of Urus and Q8
Rival, from the outset, of models like the Lamborghini Urus or the long-awaited Audi Q8, the possibility that such a model could become part of BMW's offer was, by the way, also already admitted by the head of development of the brand, Klaus Frölich. Which, in statements to the same publication, considered this model “an opportunity”.Klaus Frölich, head of development at BMW“It's still too early to talk about an X8. Even though, one of the first decisions I made, when I worked in the area of product strategy, was, precisely, to go ahead with the production of both the X5 and the X6. The segment is growing fast, so the opportunity will eventually arise”.
For the rest, “there is room for an X8, especially in markets like China. However, no decisions have yet been taken. Each car should have its own character, and that's the kind of areas that take time to assess.”
X8 Coupé… or simply X8?
Also according to Autocar, BMW is currently evaluating whether, for example, the future X8 should be "just" a coupe variant of the future X7, working a little like the X4 does, in relation to the X3, or the X6, compared to the X5. Or whether, on the contrary, it should be a more “independent” model, built from a longer platform.
Whatever the decision, the British publication assures that the most certain thing is that the X8 will be proposed with four or five seats, rather in the image of the Range Rover SVAutobiography, rather than in a seven-seat variant, as happened with the X7 Concept. And that, incidentally, should be transposed to the future X7.
Plug-in hybrid and V12 are also hypotheses
Finally, as for engines, the X8 should use the same range of engines already existing in the Series 7, and that should also be available in the future X7. In other words, blocks of six and eight cylinders, turbocharged, gasoline and diesel. A plug-in hybrid version of the iPerformance 40e genre, as well as a variant with the same V12, 6.6 liters of 609 hp and 800 Nm that equips the M760Li xDrive, are also possible.
However, regardless of the engine, a possible BMW X8 should only reach the market at the turn of the decade, predicts Autocar.
