BMW X4 softroader will come here

Just in case you thought BMW had something against even numbers, the German carmaker has slipped another SUV into its line-up, the X4. The announcement was made in the midst of a declaration to spend AU$ 875,000 upgrading the US plant that makes many of the X models.

The Spartanburg plant - which has just cranked out its two-millionth Beemer since it opened in 1994 - will also employ an extra 300 people as part of the expansion in production to include the new X4. 

BMW Australia's Piers Scott says there's not a lot of detail on the X4 but it would certainly come to Australia given the company's SUV success here. 

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"It's coming, it's a vehicle that we have very little information on other than it's a car that we would certainly introduce to Australia, particularly in light of what is rapidly growing demand for our X-range of cars," he says. 

Mr Scott says the brand's passenger car sales were down last year but SUV sales were up as a proportion of the brand's total. 

The smallest BMW crossover wagon, the X1, finished the year up 8.5 per cent with just over 2200 sales, while the slightly larger X3 was well ahead of its predecessor. 

The X5 remains the top-selling SUV (and second only to the 3 Series for the brand overall) but was down 10 per cent, while the X6 sales were down 8.3 per cent and remain small. 

It is expected the X4 offer a similar alternative to the X3 as the X6 does for the X5 - the X4 is likely to run similar petrol and diesel all-wheel drivetrains to the X3, with overseas reports suggesting an M version is also likely. 

Mr Scott says the X4 timing for Australia was yet to be determined and overseas reports suggest an appearance in its home market is unlikely before 2013. BMW has already invested AU$729 million in the expansion of the plant for production of the new BMW X3 between 2008 and 2010. 

The BMW plant produced 276,065 vehicles last year, more than 70 per cent for export to more than 130 markets, a 73 percent increase over 2010, led largely by the new X3, which was up 156 per cent last year to 117,944 vehicles. 

Since opening in 1994, the plant has produced six different BMW models - including Z3 and Z4 models, as well as the X3 and X5.