BMW X7 SUV announced

German car manufacturers, BMW, have announced plans to build a new seven seater SUV, dubbed the BMW X7. When it goes on sale in 2018, the new model will sit at the top of the range and although not confirmed it should cost around £65,000.

The BMW X7

The X7 will gain high tech material such as carbon fibre, which is seen on the BMW i3, and aluminium to lower the vehicle's weight. As such the new seven seater is tipped to weigh the same as the smaller BMW X5 model.

Power-wise, the new X7 is likely to gain various petrol and diesel engine options, including a six cylinder V8 and a V12. An eDrive plug in hybrid is another possibility. The latter would provide excellent fuel economy and low emissions, which means it could be exempt from paying things such as London's congestion charge.

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BMW owns Rolls Royce and there is a strong likelihood that the technology used in the X7 could be also be used to build a large and very premium Rolls Royce SUV. It would compete with Bentley's new off roader, which is pencilled in for production in 2016.

The news came as BMW celebrated 20 years of car building at it's Spartanburg factory in South Carolina, USA. The company also announced an expansion of it's Spartanburg plant, as part of a $1billion investment. It will be made up until 2016 and increase the workforce from 8,000 to 8,800, with annual capacity rising from 300,000 units to 450,000 units. BMW already builds the X3, X4, X5 and X6 at the US factory.

Comments on the BMW X7 plans

Chairman of the Board, Norbert Reithofer commented, “With the BMW X7, we are developing another, larger X model, which we will produce at our US plant for our world markets, once again underscoring our commitment to the US.” The new model is likely to prove most popular in the USA, which has wide open roads better suited to a very big SUV, and cheaper fuel that means the big-engined X7 will be cheaper to run.

If the BMW X7 does make it into showrooms, the model will compete against other SUVs such as the Audi Q7, Mercedes GL and the five seater Range Rover.