Product expansion, but only in the right places.
German luxury marque BMW set eyes rolling when it announced the impending X7 a while ago, with observers and hacks dubbing the Munich marque as the ‘company of niches,’ with every possible space in every possible segment inhabited by a BMW (remember the misadventures of the 3-Series & 5-Series GTs?). But with the X7 out and the 7-Series revised, there are questions about the possibility of something higher still.
Such suggestions were shot down immediately by R&D boss Klaus Fröhlich, who told Autocar that BMW’s got all its bases covered already.
“I don’t think you need a 9-Series. In this segment, you need three cars – an X-car, a saloon, and an emotional sporty car. And we have them: The X7, the 7-Series, and the 8-Series. Some competitors are already reducing the number of cars in this segment because volumes are so low.” – Klaus Fröhlich, Management Boardmember (Development), BMW AG
But while a 9-Series may be out of the question, there’s still room in the 7-Series family to expand, it seems. According to BMW Blog, the company is working on a full-size electric limousine called the i7, which is intended to take the game on to the upcoming Mercedes-Benz EQS, and all-electric Jaguar XJ.
Should such a car come to fruition and be able to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with the current-generation 7-Series, there’ll be more than enough space to fit in all the electrified nonsense required to achieve the 600km WLTP-rated range that the company is reportedly targeting.
Being a member of the 7-Series family, the i7 should be available in a mind-boggling variety of options, with different power outputs, ranges, trim-levels, and interior appointments. It’s being suggested that the i7 could be upon us as soon as 2022, but considering that the iNext SUV and i4 saloon are slated for 2020 and 2021 launches respectively, it doesn’t seem likely to us that the German marque could cue up the i7 that soon.
But we don’t mind being pleasantly surprised.
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