What's the news?
This is the BMW Concept X7 iPerformance and it is going to make its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show next week, where it will form a preview of a new high-end, luxury SUV for the Bavarian marque.
The concept is a six-seater, arranged in three rows of two, but we can take it as read that the production version - said to be due to hit the road in 2018 - will be a full-sized seven-seater, likely to square up to the Mercedes-Benz GLS, although it does somewhat raise the issue of precisely what happens to the BMW X5 in the near future.
Exterior
As to the looks, the X7 is the physically largest vehicle the company has put together, so it's imposing so say the least. Bound to please some and infuriate others with its strident appearance, the front is dominated by massive kidney grilles, slim headlight clusters and two large intakes flanked by upright silver trim, while the sides and rear bear more than a passing resemblance to a stretched X5, with plenty of creases and design lines defining the X7's shape. The show car is finished in Manhattan metallic and sits on colossal 23-inch alloy wheels.
Interior
Inside, it's dominated by screens for the full digital connectivity experience, while the panoramic roof floods the cabin with light. Quality leathers, open-pore ash trim and minimalist forms ensure you can't mistake this interior for anything other than that of a concept car, while a 12.3-inch instrument cluster brings the brand into line with Audi and Mercedes, who are both doing fully digital displays in current production models.
Mechanicals
As its 'iPerformance' nomenclature denotes, the X7 Concept is a petrol-electric plug-in hybrid, marrying lithium-ion batteries and an electric motor to a BMW TwinPower Turbo petrol engine, likely to be a four-cylinder unit in much the same way the PHEV X5 currently operates.
Anything else?
In terms of the brand's structure, going forward it's all about the Sevens and Eights for BMW luxury. The 7 Series, new X7, 8 Series, i8 and i8 Roadster will all form BMW's expanded luxury portfolio and, if you look carefully, all of them wear a newly-designed roundel logo - it's black and white, rather than blue and white, and it has the full company name, 'Bayerische Motoren Werke', written out in full. This echoes a roundel first used by BMW 100 years ago.
Ian Robertson, the member of the BMW AG management board responsible for sales and brand BMW, said of the X7, which forms part of the marque's biggest product offensive in its history: "Since BMW founded the Sports Activity Vehicle segment with the first X5 back in 1999, every subsequent X vehicle has broken new ground. The BMW X7 continues this tradition: the X family's new top model extends BMW's offering in the luxury class and redefines the concept of luxury for the BMW brand and beyond. It also embodies one of the most important elements of our corporate strategy 'Number One > Next', to grow our presence in the luxury class. Furthermore, the BMW Concept X7 demonstrates it's perfectly possible to combine a large sports activity vehicle with an electrified drivetrain."