BMW has already done its April fool so we'll have to conclude that the X4 'concept' it's announced is indeed deadly serious. And with an apparently insatiable desire among consumers for 4x4ish vehicles and similar drive to fill every niche imaginable (and a few that weren't) by the German premium marques the result is this.
Expect it to look even bigger in your mirror
This being the new X4. The 1,500-word press release announcing the latest BMW X-model spends a lot of time waffling on about lofty design concepts (lots of talk of milled this, high gloss that and 11 uses of derivations of the word 'sport) without actually saying very much at all about the substance. There appears some confusion as to the underpinnings and whether they're X1/3 Series derived or whether it's an X5/X6 style pairing. The fact that the overall length and the wheelbase are identical to the X3 (it's 34mm wider and 53mm lower) would suggest the latter, BMW clearly banking on there being folk out there who fancy an X6 but can't stretch to the £47K starting price. Further credence to this theory would come with the news it'll be built at the same American facility in Spartenburg as the X3, X5 and X6.
All the, er, charm of the X6 but more affordable
With the X1 range starting at £24K, the X3 £29K and the X6 typically a couple of grand or so more expensive than the equivalent X5 you can pitch the X4 as starting in the low 30s. The Evoque has to be one of the targets in the X4's sights, overlap with higher end
Mini Paceman
models giving BMW a pretty effective lockdown on the sporty, coupe-ish 'Sports Activity Vehicle' market it modestly takes credit for having created. It also lays down the gauntlet to
Porsche's Macan
, soon to be with us following a
massive investment
in a new production line in Leipzig just down the road from where the X1 is built.
With one in four BMWs now an X model whether you approve or not you can see why they've done it, a formal debut to follow in Shanghai and sales to start next year.