The BMW XM certainly isn’t for everyone, but the automaker thinks existing luxury SUV owners are the ones to pursue the successor to the legendary M1.
That’s according to two BMW M bosses – CEO Frank van Meel and Vice President of Customer, Brand and Sales Timo Resch – speaking to CarBuzz during the BMW M Fest at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in South Africa. At the festival, BMW unveiled the new M2 and XM to the public, along with some key pieces about the new standalone M model and its target market.
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“A lot of people who drive a Lamborghini Urus or a Mercedes G-Class say, ‘I’d love to have something like that from a BMW,’ and for us, it was a logical choice,” said van Meel.
Resch backed up that statement by acknowledging that the BMW XM will not entice existing M car owners to upgrade to an M SUV. What they envision as BMW XM buyers are existing luxury SUV owners – those who already own the Lamborghini Urus, Bentley Bentayga and Land Rover Range Rover in their garage. Will this be a switch or just an addition to the collection? We’ll bet it’s the latter.
Of course we already know. The decision to follow the SUV trend for the M1 successor has always been a business case. Otherwise, we’ll be taking a look at the M supercar, which isn’t off the table yet.
After all, it looks like the US is what BMW sees as its biggest market for the XM. Resch said that China and the Middle East would follow suit, rounding out the top three markets for the new XM. BMW has brought the M2 and XM in the US, particularly at the BMW Performance Center in South Carolina.
