SPY PICS: BMW X1 diversifies

The BMW product range is becoming increasingly complex, judging by these new pics of two crossover-style SUVs currently under development.

There's a squat, but high-riding vehicle in one set of pics, emulating the Nissan Juke with an X1 nose tacked on. This, we're told, is the BMW X2 – basically a low-roof version of the X1 confirmed by BMW back in May.

It's likely that the existence of the X2, which is physically lower in height but sharing much the same footprint as the X1, prompted German newspapers to report that BMW was working on a 'sub-X1' SUV. Those rumours were subsequently scotched by BMW Australia product planning exec Shawn Ticehurst, presumably on the grounds that the X2 is unlikely to be a 'sub-X1' model when price and market position are taken into account.

The X2 will be Munich's competitor to the Mercedes GLA, and is expected to be powered by upgraded versions of the engines available in the 2 Series Active Tourer. It's anticipated that a design study will premiere in Geneva in 2017, with the global launch of the production X2 set to take place in Frankfurt during the latter half of 2017.

Also pictured here is another X1-based SUV, believed to be built on the same UKL platform underpinning X1, X2 and MINI Countryman. This SUV, which looks like an X1 with longer rear doors, different roofline and upright D pillars, is the car we previously believed to be the X2.

At this stage there's no reliable information about the name for the new SUV, which is expected to be a seven-seat version of the X1 – just as the 2 Series Grand Tourer is a seven-seat version of the 2 Series Active Tourer. Speculation has it that this stretched X1 will be named Grand X1, although that's by no means certain. Given BMW naming precedent it could also be the X1 GT or the X1Li...

Whatever it will be named, there's a better chance of it reaching Australia than the 2 Series Grand Tourer, since it's an 'SUV', not a people mover as such. We reckon it will score the same engine options as the X2, and the word is the 'Grand X1' will reach global markets early next year.