Munich: BMW is fettling what the company has billed as the ultimate SUV, a sports utility more luxurious inside than the flagship 7 Series saloon, the website World Car Fans reports.
What may well turn out to be the range-topping X7 is so secret that no image of the car exists. The shape only can be made out under a semi-transparent cover on a picture sourced from a document linked to the company's recent annual press conference, said World Car Fans.
Details are unclear, but the X7 would need to be a roomy full seven-seater - in order to justify the top slot - and ultra-luxurious into the bargain. Competition comes from the likes of Bentley's Bentayga and the Maserati Levante. Prices will probably start at around 130,000 euros (146,000 dollars).
Codenamed "F17," the SUV will ride on the same CLAR platform that has underpinned the latest 7 Series, said the website. BMW North America CEO Ludwig Willisch said the new SUV is not due to arrive until 2019.
The X7 will have a wide choice of engines from BMW's flagship sedan, all the way up to the new V12 which is slated to make its debut on an X model.
Assembly will take place at the Spartanburg factory in South Carolina which is set to become the company’s biggest plant, larger than the Dingolfing home base near Munich.
Spartanburg will be able to handle 450,000 cars a year from the end of 2016, said BMW concern chief Norbert Reithofer, one-and-a-half times as much as at present. The factory already turns out the smaller and mid-range SUVs from the X3 to the X6.
dpa
