BMW Planning New Range-Topping Sedan Based on Gran Lusso Coupé [2014 Beijing Auto Show]

According to German publication Auto Motor und Sport, BMW will preview an upcoming range-topping sedan to be known as 9-series with a concept that will bow at the Beijing auto show later this month. The 9-series would target customers who find the Bavarians’ traditional 7-series to be a bit too modest. This news comes on the back of the automaker’s announcement that it will add a new, larger SUV to its lineup.

No details are available as yet, but the 9-series likely would borrow styling cues from last year’s Gran Lusso Coupé concept. The range-topper is expected to be large enough to share technology and components with the successor to Rolls-Royce’s Phantom, which should launch in 2016. Shoppers would have the choice between V-8 and V-12 power, while a plug-in hybrid version could appease buyers concerned with the stigma of owning large, powerful luxury vehicles.

It’s precisely because of the latter point that the 9-series will be intended for China and Russia first and foremost, while sales in the U.S. should be strong, too. In Europe, however, such a car would be a rare sight. Seen as ostentatious on the Continent, luxury sedans like the 7-series have fallen from grace among executives, who are increasingly opting for high-performance SUVs and station wagons. (Why hot-rod SUVs and wagons are more acceptable than luxo-barges is beyond us.)

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· Instrumented Test: 2013 BMW 760Li
· Future Cars: 2018 BMW X7 Rendered, Detailed
· Comparison Test: Audi RS7 vs. BMW M6 Gran Coupe, Mercedes CLS63

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While built on a more modern architecture, the 9-series could be interpreted as the spiritual successor of the Concept CS. That range-topping luxury sedan was first shown at the Shanghai auto show in 2007 and was scheduled to enter production, only to be cancelled less than two years later. Reported by Car and Driver 5 hours ago.