BMW has just introduced a modern 8-Series but the car doesn't necessarily represent the end of the road for the automaker's push into the upper end of the market.
In an interview with Autocar published Thursday, BMW Group design boss Adrian van Hooydonk hinted that there could be a model positioned above the 8-Series.
“Let’s say this: we won’t stop here [with the 8 Series],” van Hooydonk said when quizzed about a potential 9-Series. “Obviously our job is to have more ideas than the company can build, because the other way round would be very bad.”
Adrian van Hooydonk
He went on to explain that he and his team are currently working on models to be launched after 2021 and as far out as 2030, and that one of them coupe be a coupe-like sedan competing in the same league as the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class. Remember, there's a pretty wide gap between where the current BMW lineup ends and the lineup of fellow BMW Group brand Rolls-Royce starts.
Considering we're talking about a potential flagship for the BMW brand due in the next decade, an electric powertrain would make a lot of sense. We already know that BMW has secured the naming rights for potential vehicles ranging from an i1 to i9, as well as from an iX1 to iX9, with the iX-prefixed names indicating vehicles with an SUV body style, so we could be looking at an i9 to sit atop the BMW lineup instead of a 9-Series.
Mercedes-Benz is planning an S-Class-level electric sedan and Audi through its Audi Sport division is also working on a high-end electric sedan. Don't be surprised if BMW has something up its sleeve as well.
