Four new BMW SUVs for Oz within two years

BMW Australia will launch two new SUVs early in 2018, including the all-new X2 and third-generation X3, which is expected to make its global debut at the Frankfurt motor show in September.

Following them in the first half of 2019 will be the fourth generation of BMW’s first SUV, the X5, which is being fast-tracked into production by the end of next year, and the all-new X7.

We understand the X7 will also debut at Frankfurt – at least in concept form – and it will be followed by replacements for the X4 and X6 (by 2021) and the X1 in 2022.

By that time BMW will have renewed its entire X model line-up, which will number seven SUV models, matching its arch-rivals in Audi and Mercedes-Benz.

Just like the X1, three- and four-cylinder engines will be offered globally but the X1 is only offered with four-cylinder engines in Australia at present.

Like the X1 and the X2’s most direct rivals in the Audi Q3 and Mercedes-Benz GLA, BMW's next additional SUV will be available in front- and all-wheel drive configurations, and should be priced below the X1, which currently starts at $49,900.

Like its predecessor, the MkII F25-series X3 in production since 2010, the MkIII X3 will be powered by a familiar batch of four- and six-cylinder turbo-petrol and turbo-diesel engines.

However, there's also talk of the first high-performance X3 M, powered by a 300kW-plus turbo six and dual-clutch transmission, and the next X3 will also form the basis of BMW's first mainstream all-electric model in 2019.

Expected to be priced in line with the current X3 (from $62,900) and rivals like the Audi Q5 and Mercedes GLC, it should bring new infotainment systems with the latest generation smartphone integration and internet services.

Although it has already been spied undergoing testing, BMW's second-generation X4 (based on the new X3) is still a few years away – 2021 if BMW sticks to its seven-year SUV model cycle.

BMW X5
BMW Australia's top-selling vehicle in 2016 was the X5 and its successor's importance both globally and in the local market cannot be understated.

As such, BMW has chosen to fast-track a new X5 into production by the end of 2018 and it will arrive Down Under within two years.

The fourth-generation X5 will share its CLAR platform with the all-new X7 (and next X3, X4 and X6) that will follow, bringing loads of cool new technology, less weight, lower fuel consumption and better performance.

BMW X7
First announced in early 2014, BMW's new SUV flagship has been years in the making and although it will enter production in Spartanburg, USA by the end of 2018, it remains two years away from Australia – which will nevertheless be one of its first key markets.

That and the showroom-ready X3 is why the production-ready model that we expect to see in Frankfurt in three months will be officially called a 'concept'.

As well as six-cylinder engines the big new seven-seat X7 will be offered with V8 and even V12 engines, stamping its place at the top of BMW's SUV tree and justifying its expected starting price of up to $150,000.

Features? There'll be plenty, many of which will come from its sedan equivalent, the 7 Series limousine. Think advanced infotainment with gesture control, air suspension, self-driving functionality and performance to match the likes of the upcoming Audi Q8 and Mercedes-Maybach GLS.

Globally, BMW sold 2,003,359 vehicles 2016, an increase of 5.2 per cent. Of that number, the German company's SUVs accounted for around 30 per cent, or 644,992 sales – up 22 per cent year on year.

That number is even higher in SUV-mad Australia, where X models represent about half of all BMW sales.

As the SUV boom rolls on – and Audi announces plans to fill every gap between Q2 and Q8 – BMW clearly isn't sitting on its laurels.