BMW Previews Most Powerful M Car With New SUV Concept XM; Will Enter Production In 2022

BMW has unveiled its new Concept XM at Art Basel's 2021 Miami Beach show. The new concept SUV previews what will be the most powerful M car from the Bavarian brand, to enter series production. The BMW XM production SUV will be revealed next year, and it will go into production towards the end of 2022, at BMW Group Plant Spartanburg in the USA. The carmaker says that the US will be the most important market for the new high-performance car in terms of sales. The new BMW XM performance SUV will be available in plug-in hybrid form only, and exclusively as an M model.

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The new BMW XM will be the first standalone vehicle from the performance brand since the legendary M1. Thus, the new performance SUV will be unveiled in the same year when the BMW M1 celebrates its 50th anniversary. The company also states that with the new XM, BMW will have a highly progressive and distinctive take on X model design and showcase an "all-new form of luxury and sense of space for the interior." Powering the new BMW Concept XM is a newly developed M Hybrid drive system, which combines a V8 engine and a high-performance electric motor to develop maximum output of nearly 738 bhp (550 kW) and peak torque of 1,000 Nm. It will be the first electrified vehicle from the BMW M brand, in the high-performance segment.

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The new BMW Concept XM gets a new progressive front-end design featuring octagonal kidney grille

Franciscus van Meel, CEO of BMW M says, "The BMW Concept XM represents a complete re-imagining of the high-performance car segment. It underlines the ability of BMW M GmbH to break with established conventions and push boundaries in order to offer fans of the brand the ultimate driving experience. The series-production car - the first pure BMW M model since the legendary BMW M1 - also shows how we are approaching the step-by-step electrification of our brand."

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Visually, the new Concept XM comes with what BMW calls its new progressive front-end design, which includes the large kidney grille with each shaped like an octagon. They feature horizontal slats with the XM logo. The SUV also gets a very aggressive looking bumper with sharp, muscular lines, which seamlessly merges with the diffuser. Small twin LED headlights looks futuristic, while the squared wheel arches with the cladding and the high shoulder line give the SUV a robust stance. Above the left front wheel, we have the charging port for the plug-in hybrid system. The profile shows more intricate character lines, while the blacked-out pillars and the broad, high-gloss Blackline or the "black belt" separates the two exterior colours.

The taillights get a futuristic look, designed in the form of slim L-shaped LED strips, with the reflectors acting like extensions

The rear section too gets a distinctive design, with the rear windshield inserted almost seamlessly into the rear end, and we have laser-etched BMW logos, below each of the two cant rails. This is a stylistic reference to the BMW M1. The taillights get a futuristic look, designed in the form of slim L-shaped LED strips, with the reflectors acting like extensions. Below you have a beefy bumper with large diffusers and a dual-branch, twin-tailpipe exhaust system, which are shaped like a hexagon and arranged vertically to add a distinctive look.

The interior gets a brown, vintage-look leather, copper and carbon fibre treatment, while the bold trim element provides clear visual separation

Inside the BMW Concept XM gets a distinctive M interpretation of driver-focused cockpit design. The interior gets a brown, vintage-look leather, copper and carbon fibre treatment, while the bold trim element provides clear visual separation between the driver's area and the other sections of the car. The dashboard features a large, curved display area with fully digital twin screens for instrumentation and infotainment, and the latter is a touchscreen unit, and below that, we have a decorative surface made from carbon fibre.

The dashboard features a large, curved display area with fully digital twin screens for instrumentation and infotainment

The infotainment system is based on the latest generation of BMW iDrive and comes with an M-specific version of the control/operation system. It visualises the modes of the hybrid drive system as well as the pure-electric driving mode. Red accents on the steering wheel and centre console are M-specific references to the car's sporting prowess.