RENDERED SPECULATION: Is There Room For A Flagship BMW X8? RUMORS Suggest It's On The Way...

It will be pitched as a coupe´-styled rival to the Range Rover and upcoming Audi Q8 and could compete in fully loaded guise against low-end versions of the Bentley Bentayga, Lamborghini Urus and Rolls-Royce Cullinan. The X8 moniker has been trademarked in markets around the world since 2018, with markets in the Far East being the latest to have X8 trademarks filed.

BMW’s head of development, Klaus Fro¨hlich, wouldn’t confirm plans to push BMW into an even higher price segment with the X8, but he did say such a car was under evaluation and the idea of it held strong appeal.

“The sector is growing fast, so there will be opportunity,” said Fro¨hlich. “It is early to talk about X8, but one of the first decisions I made when I worked on product strategy was to take the X5 and make the X6...

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MDarringer - 5/19/2018 4:41:41 PM

-3 Boost

An X8 should not be a coupecrossover. It should be a LWB X7 with a self-contained rear compartment for those who are driven by lesser human beings.

TomM - 5/19/2018 5:08:19 PM

+4 Boost

All of the companies out there are going to be producing FLAGSHIP crossovers - so unless BMW wants to be left out - they will have to do so as well.

At that level - the price of gas is not a consideration for the buyer - so it had better be good though.

MDarringer - 5/19/2018 6:42:57 PM

-3 Boost

The fact is that the X7 will be the flagship. It will easily grab sales from the 7 Series in addition to its own sales.

carloslassiter - 5/19/2018 7:40:55 PM

+5 Boost

You gotta give BMW credit - they've been ahead of other makers in slotting 43 different SUVs into their range.

dumpsty - 5/22/2018 7:52:05 AM

+2 Boost

In a nutshell...yeah, you got it! All their CUVs share a platform & various other hidden bits with their cars. So varying the production mix in either direction hadn't really been a major change in sales direction. The amount of variety they offer in a single brand is what makes BMW a full service brand.

That & they recognize where they stand in terms of consumer perceptions of sport & luxury. When you've got people saying they'd definitely choose a BMW over a Porsche or Bentley - they've been doing some things right.

Dexter1 - 5/20/2018 11:27:26 AM

-1 Boost

What BMW doesn't realize is that a flagship SUV doesn't have to look like a brand caricature.

MDarringer - 5/20/2018 1:37:17 PM

-4 Boost

Unfortunately, you're probably right.

dumpsty - 5/22/2018 8:06:53 AM

+2 Boost

I don't like the X7 concept either, but the concept is to embellish/exaggerate a brand's trademark features while laying the foundation for innovations that lead to evolutionary changes which makes their vehicles better.

It's a shame that some brands have to (fight) with conservative bipolar consumers who basically demand that their new designs be more like the 40"s/50's/60's while keeping pace with modern advances of the technology. We end up with an exceptionally capable brand that never meets it's consumer's expectations for legacy designs & for market-leading tech.