BMW Confirms X7 Production, Will Rival Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class, Range Rover

We’ve heard rumours of its coming and seen several test mule spyshots of it, but nothing beats the news straight out of the horse’s mouth. Yes, folks, the BMW X7 is coming (codenamed G07), and it will be made in Spartanburg, in the US.

Unfortunately, that’s the only bit of official information that BMW’s Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Harald Krüger has shared for the moment. In his most recent statement, he said:

“Spartanburg is receiving an investment of one billion U.S. dollars between 2014 and 2016. By the end of 2016, we will be able to produce over 450,000 vehicles per year at the site. At that point, Spartanburg will be the largest plant in our global production network. The expansion is also a response to the continuing trend towards SUVs.

“At present, the X line-up accounts for almost one in three BMWs sold. With new models such as the X7 we are going to expand our offering “made in Spartanburg”.

There have been, however, several other reports in the past, rumours acquired through hearsay and insider information, that do give us a few more details to expect. Here’s a quick list of what’s been said:

• Three-row seating is a fact: no surprises really, when you consider the sheer size of the coming BMW X7 SAV.
• More legroom in the middle row: One promise that our friends over at Motoring.com.au has managed to uncover is that the X7 will feature significantly larger middle-row legroom than the X5, and it plans to do so from the get go, by being a much larger vehicle itself.
• More luxury than a 7 Series: This one sounds a bit sacrilegious of the sanctity reserved for the flagship 7 Series, but yes, it is believed that despite the G11 (latest-gen 7er) featuring out-of-this-world tech, the X7 is building up to not only be a bigger vehicle, but to deliver to luxury features than ever seen before in a BMW – it has to, if it wants to do battle with a Range Rover.
• More new engines: Unsurprisingly, BMW may very well rely on their 3.0-litre six-cylinder BMW TwinPower engines for their base versions of the car. But up top, it has been rumoured that their next-gen versions of their V8 engines will be a feature of the all-new X7. Not one to rest on eight cylinders, even a 6.0-litre V12 engine has been rumoured to come.

That’s about all we can tell you for now, and do keep in mind that apart from the fact that the X7 will come and will be made in Spartanburg, the rest of the facts we’ve shared here are nothing more than rumours, albeit very reliable ones from very reliable sources.

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