Love them or hate them luxo SUVs are here to stay. Locally, their increasing sales continue to give our market a boost. BMW now brings us news that their X5 model has surpassed one million sales.
To be different, BMW refers to the X5 as an SAV – Sports Activity Vehicle. It’s taken 11 years for the X5 to reach the seven-figure sales mark and with its horrible X6 and somewhat quirky GT siblings joining the line up the SUV/SAV phenomenon shows no signs of abating.
I’ll give the X5 one thing, though, they’re bloody good to drive.
The BMW X5: One Million Reasons To Celebrate
Within just eleven years, the BMW X5 has achieved unprecedented success with the one millionth BMW X5 rolling off the Spartanburg, South Carolina assembly line this month.
The production milestone coincides with the Australian launch of the mid-life update of the award winning BMW X5 which sees three new name plates enter the range: the X5 xDrive35i, X5 xDrive40d and X5xDrive50i.
In Australia, the BMW X5 remains the top-selling luxury SAV having outsold its competitors for the last seven consecutive years.
When it premiered in 1999, the four-wheel driven BMW X5 was the first vehicle of its kind. Since then, the concept of combining superior dynamics on tarmac with outstanding traction on off-road terrain, has been a show-stopper worldwide, whilst also generating crucial impulses for the BMW model portfolio. With the family of BMW X models, which has meanwhile grown to comprise a total of four members, the company has recorded steadily increasing sales figures unmatched by any other manufacturer with comparable vehicles.
The BMW X5 remains the symbol and most crucial innovator for the continuing success of the Sports Activity Vehicle concept. The spacious five-door car offers up to seven seats, its intelligent four-wheel drive system BMW xDrive guarantees awesome acceleration, both on and off road. Permanent, electronically controlled four-wheel drive technology distributes motive force to the front and rear wheels variably and according to each specific situation. Furthermore, a luxurious interior ambience and a wide choice of innovative driver assistance systems contribute towards the characteristic manifestation of driving pleasure so typical of a BMW.
Moreover, numerous awards document the outstanding product quality with regard to design, driving pleasure, safety and reliability. In 2007, the BMW X5 received, inter alia, the design prize “autonis†awarded by the trade journal “auto motor und sport“ for the most attractive design, as well as a Gold Award in the J.D. Power Study on customer satisfaction in North America. The American Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) voted this Sports Activity Vehicle as the “Top Safety Pick†for outstanding crash test behaviour both in 2007 and 2008. Current proof of the vehicle’s exceptional reliability is given by the latest breakdown statistics issued by Europe’s largest automobile club ADAC, in which the BMW X5 ranks second place behind the BMW X3 in the all-terrain vehicle category.
The development of the BMW Spartanburg plant is also closely linked with the success story of the BMW X5. The location, which has existed for 15 years now, has become the most crucial centre of expertise for BMW X models within the BMW Group’s global production network. Built in Spartanburg, the BMW X5 is now exported to more than 120 countries, with the BMW X6 also being produced there for export to the entire global market. Before the end of this year, production of the latest BMW X3 generation will commence at this location.