After BMW revived the 6 Series in 2003, it kept the model in production until 2010. The one we have now launched the following year, which – given the same-length lifecycle – would make it due for replacement next year.
From what we can see from these latest spy shots, it appears that the Bavarian automaker is hard at work on getting it ready. We just don’t know what it’ll be called yet.
Why not, you ask? Because BMW is tipped to be bringing the 8 Series back for the first time since 1999. This tells us one of two things: either the product planners in Munich are working on slotting another coupe above the new 6, or they’re replacing one with the other and moving it up-market. It’s anyone’s guess at this point, but given BMW’s penchant for spinning off additional models and body-styles, neither would surprise us much.
BMW pits the 6 Series up against the Mercedes E-Class coupe (as a counterpart to the 5 Series), while a revived 8 Series would pair with the 7 and compete more directly with the S-Class coupe.
Lord knows, there’s plenty of space, at any rate, in between the current 6 (which starts under $80k and tops out under $120k in M6 spec) and the Rolls-Royce Wraith (which only gets going north of $300k). Mercedes, for its part, aims to cover that territory with the top end of the S-Class, while Audi leaves vacant the gaping space between the A5 and the Bentley Continental GT.
Heavily camouflaged as this prototype is, spotted running around in the snow, it’s hard to garner much meaningful information regarding what it will look like or what features it will encompass in its final form. But for all that swirly body-wrap, there’s no heavy cladding to disguise mask the overall shape, and the lines and proportions look promising, with a long hood leading elegantly muscular haunches.
We expect the finished product to bow in another year or so, by which point we’ll likely have seen much more of it – so watch this space.
Photo Credits: CarPix for CarScoops
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