BMW expects half of X6 sales to come from US, hybrid X6 coming in 2009

BMW expects half of X6 sales to come from US, hybrid X6 coming in 2009

BMW is expecting the U.S. to be the biggest market for its upcoming X6 crossover despite the high fuel prices. BMW board member for corporate and brand development said that the company is expecting half of the annual production volume to come from the U.S.

Seeing has BMW plans to build 40,000 units of the X6 annually, U.S. is expected to eat up 20,000 of the production run. German and UK together will account for about 10 percent. Eichiner said he doesn’t think that gas prices will have a major impact on the X6.

“Maybe there could be some knock-on effect, but the U.S. is still the world’s biggest SUV market. This is why we are confident the X6 will be a success,” Eichiner told Automotive News Europe.

BMW has already confirmed an X6 hybrid for the U.S. as well. The hybrid X6 will go on sale in the U.S. and Europe starting mid-2009. It is expected to be powered by a 4.4 liter V8 engine mated with an electric motor that produces 407-hp. BMW says the hybrid version will consume 20 percent less fuel than the petrol model.

The BMW X6 xDrive35i will start at $52,500 while the XDrive50i will start at $63,000. The xDrive50i comes standard with Navigation with RTTI and Multi-contour seats.

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Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

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