Daily Archives: May 21, 2018
New BMW X5 To Feature The Latest iDrive Infotainment System
BMW has confirmed that a new model under its X series will become available by the end of this year. The BMW X5 will also be the best platform for the German brand to feature its latest iDrive infotainment system.
The new fourth-generation BMW X5 will be revealed most likely at the Paris Motor Show in September, and might become available in dealerships around the end of 2018. This information was confirmed by BMW head Harald Kruger during BMW’s 98th annual general meeting. This will be the fourth X model to arrive this year, after the X2, the new X3, and the X4.
This new SUV will be the first vehicle to feature BMW’s latest iDrive infotainment technology, which is called the BMW Operating System 7.0. The same system will also be featured in the upcoming 3 Series saloon and the flagship X7.
The spy shots revealed a lot about the evolutionary design language that BMW has used for the X5. As a rival to the Range Rover Sport and Porsche Cayenne, the photos showed the company’s latest hexagonal lighting signature even when it is completely covered in camouflage.
CLAR Platform
The current X5, which was introduced in 2013, is still using the same platform as the second-generation X5 from 2006. The biggest challenge then is finding a suitable platform for the new X5, and this could be the CLAR platform, which has already transitioned from the saloon to the SUV in the latest X3. On the latter, the platform has already shed off 55kg off the kerbweight. The larger X5 will have more saving in terms of weight and fuel efficiency.
The new X5 will follow the 5 Series’ four- and six-cylinder petrol and diesel engines.
SUV sales for BMW grew rapidly in the past decade as this segment continues to be the main focus of customers. The company hopes to build on that success when the X5 is revealed later this year.
Mercedes-Benz Plans To Build Electric Compact Car In France
Daimler is investing as much as $589 million in Hambach, France to produce a small electric car for Mercedes-Benz. This is the first move by the German automaker to jumpstart its plans of producing 10 electric vehicles by 2022 and finally competing with US rival Tesla and its Model 3.
The Smart brand is producing all of its EVs in Hambach. Markus Schaefer said in a statement that the Smart plant in Hambach will become a part of the brand’s global compact car production network. The lead plant will be placed in Rastatt, Germany.
Mercedes is working to make its vehicle underpinnings suitable for the conditions it wants—to be able to mass produce a variety of electric vehicles in the same volume as models with gasoline, diesel, and hybrid engines. Such a move will allow the German automaker to boost production once the orders start to come in.
Making 620,000 units of compact vehicles last year, Mercedes is currently producing its compact A-Class, B-Class, and GLA models in Rastatt, Germany, in Kecskemet, Hungary, in Beijing, China, and in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Its US rival, Tesla, was able to deliver 101,312 vehicles last year.
There was no information what EV Mercedes is planning to initially produce, though the brand presented the Concept EQA in September. It is an electric car with a 250-mile range and has the ability to recharged without having to be plugged in.
The French plant is being adapted to make it possible to house a variety of EVs that Mercedes will have in the pipeline. Particularly, the facility is being readied for the first-ever Mercedes-Benz passenger car in France. It looks like Daimler is expecting orders to pour in for its electric compact car as its Hambach plant, where Daimler produces its electric and combustion-engined two-seater Smart vehicles, can already produce more than 80,000 units in a year.