End of the road draws near for BMW X4

Life could be about to become a whole lot easier for the Audi Q5 Sportback and Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe following reports from Europe that the BMW X4 won’t get another generation, at least not with internal combustion power.

That’s according to Motor1 Italy, which this week cited local BMW executives as confirming the X4 won’t enter a third generation on the grounds of model range streamlining, given the overlap between it, the smaller X2 and the bigger X6.

Apparently the X4 is stuck in a sort of no-man’s land between its siblings as younger buyers snap up the smaller and more affordable X2 while wealthier and more mature customers opt for the bigger, more powerful and more sophisticated X6.

Adding to the coupe-style mid-size luxury SUV’s woes is the new-generation X3, which has been made sleeker and slipperier with a more rakish roofline and lower drag coefficient, as well as sportier in terms of its mechanicals and chassis set-up.

“For those looking for an SUV of similar dimensions to the X4 (around 4.70 metres) – says BMW – the ‘ideal’ car will be the X3, which in the meantime has become sportier,” said Motor1 Italy.

Also hurting the X4’s cause is the fact it’s the slowest-selling model among its key rivals in Europe, where the GLC Coupe leads the charge ahead of the Audi Q5 Sportback and X4.

It’s a similar story in Australia: 707 GLC Coupes were delivered between January and June of this year, compared to 374 X4s (Audi adds Sportback sales to its overall Q5 tally rather than listing them separately).

But it seems the BMW X4 story doesn’t end there.

According to BMW Blog, the X4 will be reborn in 2026 exclusively as the BMW iX4, which will be underpinned by the German car-maker’s Neue Klasse architecture, broadening BMW’s EV range alongside the next-gen iX3.

The iX4 is rumoured to be one of up to half a dozen battery-powered Neue Klasse models to be launched globally before the end of the decade, and it’s tipped to be one of the first to emerge after the 2025 BMW iX3.

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