BMW is set to build a brand-new, high-end model for the American market at its Spartanburg, South Carolina factory.
“At the end of the year, we will make an announcement to build another high-end car from this manufacturing site,” BMW Chairperson Oliver Zipse told CNBC. “It is not a successor model, it’s a brand-new model, high-end for the American market but also for the world market.”
The factory already makes the BMW X3, X4, X5, X6, and X7, as well as the performance variants of many of those vehicles, at the plant. Spartanburg currently exports about 70% of the vehicles it produces.
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Given the preponderance of Xs already being built in Spartanburg, it seems reasonable to conclude that this new model will also be an X. In June, we published spy shots of a range-topping coupe version of the X7 testing at the Nurburgring, which is widely expected to be called the X8.
Rumors have suggested that the X8 M performance variant could be powered by a twin-turbo V8 making as much as 750 hp (559 kW/760 PS), which would put it quite a ways ahead of the Audi RS Q8. That would even trump the more performance-focused Lamborghini Urus, which makes 650 hp (659 PS/484 kW).
Zipse said that the vehicle will be unveiled before the end of the year, suggesting that we will see it on the road next year. Spy shots show that at least one version of the vehicle will receive a degree of electrification, somewhat like the Porsche Cayenne.
The chairperson added that he “fully supports” the White House’s goal of having 50% of all new car fully electric by 2030. He said, though, that it will only be possible if the Biden administration’s EV infrastructure goals are achieved.
