BMW Confirms X6 Name for New Crossover

MUNICH, Germany — Twelve months after BMW confirmed it was planning to introduce a coupe-inspired SUV to complement the hugely successful X5, the upcoming model has an official name: X6.

In announcing the news to journalists at BMW's press conference in Munich this week, Chairman Norbert Reithofer also provided a major boost to BMW's burgeoning North American operations by confirming the X6 will be assembled alongside the mechanically identical X5 at the company's plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

The X6 production volume will be relatively small compared to the X5, say insiders, with initial estimates put at between 20,000 and 30,000 units annually.

Scheduled to make an appearance as a lightly veiled concept car next January at the North American International Auto Show, the X6 will ultimately go on sale across North America toward the end of 2008. Based on the second-generation X5's four-wheel-drive underpinnings, the new car is planned to receive its own unique four-door body, with a heavily sloping roof serving to differentiate it visually from its more upright sibling.

Engines are set to include carryover versions of BMW's inline six-cylinder and V8 gasoline units, with the likelihood of the German carmaker's excellent new twin-turbocharged inline six-cylinder diesel appearing as well.

© Source: article on insideline
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