BMW has orbited across the pickup section a number of occasions over the previous few years with out touchdown in it. In 2016, proper after Mercedes-Benz badge-engineered a Nissan Navara into the short-lived X-Class, one of many Munich-based firm’s executives confirmed his crew was “watching the [pickup] area carefully.” In 2019, an X7-based pickup idea made its debut to haul bikes. The ultimate name is not any, nevertheless.
“I feel a pickup truck is past the model,” defined Bernd Körber, the senior vp of BMW model and product administration, in an interview with fanatic publication BMW Weblog. “In precept, I’d say for a model like BMW to distinguish, to make vehicles which might be dream vehicles that actually deliver out the essence of BMW, we’d like area of interest fashions,” he added. In his opinion, a truck merely would not match the invoice.
Mercedes-Benz got here to an identical conclusion: It axed the X-Class (which wasn’t imported to the US) three years after unveiling the mannequin. Over at Audi, we have not seen a production-bound truck, however the Activesphere idea proven in 2023 featured a truck-like cargo field.
That does not imply BMW consumers might want to look elsewhere if they need a car able to critical off-roading. Körber instructed BMW Weblog that his crew has seen rugged off-roaders, such because the Land Rover Defender and the Toyota Land Cruiser, have grow to be more and more well-liked in recent times. BMW would not have Land Rover’s off-roading heritage, although it briefly owned the British model and provides a few of its engines, nevertheless it’s open to the concept of giving consumers a extra outdoorsy different to the favored SUVs in its vary, just like the X3 and the X5.
“Open to” is not synonymous with “creating,” and it seems like nothing is about in stone; that is simply an thought bouncing round Munich’s govt board conferences. One issue working in favor of a extra rugged SUV is that it might have a worldwide enchantment. “Rugged is an attention-grabbing development as a result of it has moved from [being a] U.S., South Africa, and Australia phenomenon into a worldwide phenomenon,” Körber identified.
If the mannequin receives the proverbial inexperienced mild for manufacturing, BMW Weblog speculates that it’s going to arrive as a extra off-road-capable evolution of an current mannequin somewhat than as a standalone nameplate. Put one other manner, we’re extra more likely to see a jacked-up X5 with meaty tires than a boxy, G-Class-like SUV designed from the bottom as much as rip throughout the desert. There is no phrase on when a call will probably be made, nevertheless.
