The BMW X7 - Made for China
It looks like BMW are planning on building a new, range-topping SUV – the BMW X7 – aimed squarely at China’s new rich.
Yes, yet another BMW X-Something to consider – the BMW X7. This time an enormous SUV that was canned as an idea a couple of years ago when the world went in to financial meltdown, but one that is starting to look like a sensible move once more for BMW.
Sensible? How on earth, in these eco-obsessed, down-sizing times can it make sense for BMW to plunge headlong in to making a gargantuan SUV? Simple. China.
The new wealthy in China love big cars. They gobble up 7-Series BMWs – particularly the BMW 760i L – by the container load and so enamoured have the Chinese become of big BMWs that BMW even make a stretched 5-Series just to keep them happy.
And all this pandering to the needs and desires of the Chinese car buyer is paying big dividends for BMW, with claims that as much as 50% of BMW’s operating profits emanate from the resurgent Chinese economy. So BMW can afford to build a range-topping SUV in the X7 with almost certain knowledge it will sell well in China.
Suddenly the BMW X7 project which was shelved when the US economy was looking like it couldn’t support a gargantuan, $100k + SUV from BMW is back on. And it’s back on with no need to reference the US economy at all.
The BMW X7. A mirror on the changing economic landscape.
Source: WSJ (via BMW Blog)
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